Deadline reports that John Amos is set to return as Cleo McDowell, the owner of McDowell’s, in Paramount Pictures’ forthcoming Coming 2 America sequel. With Craig Brewer directing the film, Eddie Murphy. Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, and Paul Bates are also reprising their roles from the 1988 original film with Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Rick Ross and KiKi Layne taking on new characters.
The original starred Murphy as charming Prince Akeem of Zamunda who travelled to New York City to escape an arranged marriage, only to fall in love. Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and John Amos co-starred. Amos’ Cleo is also the father of Akeem’s love interest, Lisa McDowell, who was played by Shari Headley. No word yet on if Headley is returning.
In the new film follows former Prince Akeem who is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle. Honoring his father’s dying wish to groom this son as the crowned prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America.
In the original movie, John Amos famously portrays McDowell’s manager Cleo McDowell. His restaurant brand is a parody of McDonald’s, complete with a similar logo, store design, and employee uniforms. “They’re McDonald’s – I’m McDowell’s,” Amos memorably says as Cleo in the movie. He adds: “They got the golden arches; we got the golden arcs.” After Cleo gives the prince a job at McDowell’s, Akeem meets his daughter and chooses her to be his royal bride. Of course, Cleo isn’t happy about one of his employees courting his daughter, but after he learns about Akeem’s true heritage, his tone quickly changes with hilarious results.
Amos recent credits include HBO’s Ballers and the Netflix series, The Ranch,
“Coming 2 America” is produced by Murphy, Kevin Misher and “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris and hits cinemas December 18th 2020.
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