In 1988, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of  the sovoreign African nation of Zamunda came to America in search of a wife who knew herself. Following an exhaustive search he found Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley) who only bore him daughters, But the heir to the throne must be a male. King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Akeem’s father advises him that he has an illegitimate son Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler) living in Queens, New York from a tryst with Mary Junson (Leslie Jones) he can’t remember because he was drugged.

Fast forward to 2021, and Prince Akeem must travel back to Queens New York (home of future heirs) to retrieve his “unprincely” son. This sets the stage for the sequel to Coming To America. Akeem bought his airline ticket and made the trek.

Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, who wrote both the original and the sequel to Coming To America spoke to Creative Screenwriting Magazine about the thirty-odd year journey to bring their sequel to the screen now that Prince Akeem had grown up to become a real man.

“When we were writing the original, we always thought of it as a musical. About ten years ago we tried to develop it as a musical, but we couldn’t get it off the ground,” lamented Blaustein. “Broadway is a tough nut to crack.” The royal tale went back in the vaults.

The writing duo never considered a film sequel to Coming To America until 2017 after they exhausted their efforts to bring it to the stage.

Both films were structured as musicals

Writing a sequel for one of the most recognizable films of the eighties was both a blessing and a curse. Screenwriters Blaustein and Sheffield had rich source material to revisit, but they also had to logically continue the story.

Barry Blaustein

Creating a Coming 2 America began with bringing as many characters from the original. The main story focus for Blaustein and Sheffield was to track how Prince Akeem changed from young adulthood in his early twenties to a middle-aged father. “Prince Akeem can’t be that naive in his mid fifties as he was back then. I also wanted Akeem to look back on his old life in Queens and ask what didn’t he do that he wanted to,” continued Barry. Did he live up to his potential? How did he change and how did he stay the same? Major life questions.

There is always pressure to re-engage the audience from the original given its success. Everybody had an opinion on why the original film succeeded and demanded these elements in the sequel. “There was always pressure from the studio to make the same film again,” said Sheffield. “There were many references to the first film, but we had to make it fresh. We introduced a lot of new characters to appeal to audiences old and new.”

Team Blaustein and Sheffield also explored Lavelle’s story of not wanting to become a prince and his love of royal groomer Mirembe (Nomzamo Mbatha). They added a new foil General Izzi (Wesley Snipes) and a competing love interest Bopoto Izzi (Teyana Taylor) to give General Izzi one last shot at ruling Zamunda to flesh out the subplots. But Coming 2 America always remained Prince Akeem’s story.

The Coming 2 America fairytale was kept alive – livin’ the great American dream.

The Writing Maze

The original concept of the sequel came from a writer called Justin Kanew (Welcome To The Jungle) about an African king in search of his heir who was living in America. “This was the basic premise, but we never read Kanew’s script,” declared Sheffield. Kanew received story credit for Coming 2 America although his script was never used nor was he involved in any subsequent drafts.

Barry and David wrote the first draft of the current screenplay. Kenya Barris (Girls Trip) also wrote his own draft independently so the studio could gauge his take on the material. Barris added the character of Uncle Reem (Tracy Morgan) to the film and tightened the relationships between the characters. Much of what Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield had written was already in Barris’ draft indicating that they were all in sync.

The original draft was returned to Blaustein and Sheffield for a polish.

David Sheffield

Team Blaustein and Sheffield also received notes from Eddie Murphy and director Craig Brewer (Dolemite Is My Name) to elevate the material and punch up the jokes. Wesley Snipes also added a lot to his character of General Izzi, especially in the choreography sequences.

Prior to beginning the script, the writers spent about three months with Eddie Murphy to discuss concepts for Coming 2 America. “There was a lot of back and forth,” said Sheffield, but rarely conflict. “We’ve worked with Eddie for forty years and we know his likes and dislikes.”

In keeping with old-school screenwriter tradition, “We work with a cork board and three by five inch index cards,” said Sheffield. “We chart out the entire story scene by scene before we write.” They work together in the same room during the actual writing process in write as you speak process. “We write out loud in the voice of the characters. We play out the scenes, take notes and rewrite them.”

Coming 2 America is ostensibly a broad comedy. “We call it the Blaustein and Sheffield comedy.” Like all strong comedy, it is underscored by sentiment,” continued Sheffield. “You have to emotionally care about all the characters no matter how silly the story gets. If it’s just jokes, the story falls flat,” mused Blaustein.

The writing pair had a unique experience writing the original Coming To America. Director John Landis essentially shot their first draft. In fact, Landis prohibited the studio from giving them any notes. “We had five weeks to write the movie in 1987 so there wasn’t much time for notes or rewrites,” said Blaustein.

Life helped Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield mature as screenwriters. “You don’t have the same perspective on things as when you were younger.”

As screenwriting veterans, they offer emerging writers sage advice. “Find your voice, because whether they’re aware of it or not, Hollywood is always looking for original voices. They might try to corrupt that voice later. Don’t write what you think they’re buying. Don’t be afraid to be an individual,” said Barry.

Barry has broader advice for writers – “Experience life more before you sit down to write. Don’t base your stories on what you learned at film school. Follow your instinct.“