In its first weekend on Amazon Prime, Eddie Murphy’s “Coming 2 America” became the most-watched streaming film since movie theaters closed due to COVID-19 nearly a year ago, according to Amazon and Screen Engine/ASI.
The sequel to the ’80s comedy about an African prince traveling to New York to find true love topped “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run,” which was originally set for theatrical release but instead became a launch title for the new Paramount+ streaming service. “Coming 2 America” was also initially set to be a Paramount theatrical release, but was sold to Amazon as part of a series of sales of Paramount films to various streaming services.
Along with “Coming 2 America” and “Spongebob,” the top five most-watched streaming films of the weekend on Screen Engine’s charts were Netflix’s “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” and “I Care A Lot,” along with HBO Max’s “Tom & Jerry,” which was also released in theaters and has grossed just under $23 million in North America over the past 10 days.
“Coming 2 America” has received mixed reviews since its release, receiving a 52% critics score and 48% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Craig Brewer directed from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, with Murphy starring alongside Arsenio Hall, Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Shari Headley and James Earl Jones.
