The actor is among the new additions to the sequel of the cult movie Coming To America.
Available to stream on Prime Video, Coming 2 America sees Murphy reprise his role of Prince Akeem.
In the second chapter directed by Craig Brewer, Akeem is poised to become King of the fictional reign of Zamunda. As the throne must be passed to a male heir, the prince discovers he has a son, Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), living in Queens, NYC.
Murphy, Headley, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, Paul Bates, and James Earl Jones returned for the sequel. Alongside Snipes in the role of General Izzi, Leslie Jones and Rick Ross also joined the original cast.
Wesley Snipes Didn’t Really Know The Choreography For His ‘Coming 2 America’ Entrance
Izzi, from the kingdom of Nexdoria, is the brother of Imani (Vanessa Bell Calloway), Akeem's intended bride in the first movie.
In Coming 2 America, the general makes his grand entrance together with a group of backup dancers.
“I envisioned being in a 40s, 50s film, West Side Story joint, coming down the alleyway,” Snipes said.
The Blade actor also revealed that he didn’t know the choreography.
“They were choreographed, but I wasn’t choreographed,” Snipes said.
“I didn’t know the choreography and I missed the choreography,” he added.
Snipes said he was “terrified” and had “no idea” of what he was going to do. Judging by the sequence he managed to pull off the dancing bit.
Eddie Murphy Didn’t Think There Was Going To Be A Sequel To ‘Coming To America’
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Murphy himself explained why he didn’t think a sequel to the 1988 movie was going to be an option.
“We never though about doing a sequel to the movie,” Murphy said.
“We thought it was over ‘cause the story ended with [Akeem] going off, it looked like [Akeem and Lisa] were going to live happily ever after and that was the end of the story,” he continued.
Following its release in 1988, the movie has acquired a cult status, explained Murphy.
“Of all the movie that I’ve done, Coming To America is the one that worked its way into the culture in all these different ways, little catchphrases from the movie,” he continued.
The Dolemite Is My Name actor also said that "it took 25 years for [the movie] to become [a cult].”
After observing the reactions from fans, Murphy started toying with the idea of a sequel.
"And I got an idea and it all came together,” he said.
Coming 2 America is streaming on Amazon Prime Video