Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall talk origins of 'Coming 2 America' and how de-aging 'Terminator' tech inspired sequel

Over thirty years after the original Coming to America hit theaters, its sequel, Coming 2 America, is hitting Amazon Video Prime.

Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Wesley Snipes, and other members of the cast recently spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about the three decade delay and how cutting edge de-aging technology helped tie the two films together.

"I was watching one of those movies with Schwarzenegger [2015's Terminator Genisys]. And they used a special effect, but it made him really young," Murphy recalled of the unexpected inspiration that pushed Coming 2 America into fruition. "And I was like, 'We could do a scene where we're young and ... we could connect it.'"

Watch more from Murphy and more in the interview above.

Video Transcript

He's supposed to be, like, the prince of Wakanda.

- Wakanda is a fictional place.

- Not to everybody.

- Moondarra as a very real nation.

- I don't need no handout.

- Wait a minute. I don't know OK

KEVIN POLOWY: Eddie, this is a sequel fans of Coming to America have dreamed about for only, what? 30 something years now? Was this always something that you were determined to do over the years? I mean, were there pushes to, to make it earlier than in these very recent years? Did you have starts and stops?

EDDIE MURPHY: This movie kind of came together on its own organically. It's, like, when we finished the original Coming to America, it kind of ended on, and they live happily ever after. So we never even thought about doing a sequel. You know, usually sequels come a year or two after the original movie. So we never thought about it. But then, Coming to America took the-- became, you know, part of the culture, and little lines from the movie, catchphrases, sexual chocolate, and the mic drop, and all this, little-- And Halloween, some people dress up as characters and, it just stayed around. And about six years ago, I got an idea, and it was like, hey, there's a way we can connect those dots to this thing. You know what happened? I was watching, I think it was one of those movies with Schwarzenegger when they used that-- with the Terminator movies, and they used that special effects where they made him really young. And I was like, hey, if you did that scene, we could do a scene where we're young, and can, can, that, that scene where we're in the club. We could connect it, then this happened, and he had it-- and that was the piece that made it all, kind of, fall into place.

KEVIN POLOWY: So you guys did actually, you actually, de-aged, like, by CGI for the film?

EDDIE MURPHY: Yeah. there's a scene where we go to the club, and when I meet Leslie Jones' character. We just looked like we were, like, in our 20s again.

ARSENIO HALL: You know, that night we shot it, they matched me up with where I was in the first film when I did the spit tape, and I had to imitate that exact thing, then stand up and continue the walk that never existed.

KEVIN POLOWY: Arsenio, what was your reaction to first hearing that you guys, I mean, you're being called back into action for this?

ARSENIO HALL: Well, first of all, like, you know, Eddie was involved with the script for like four years. I knew about it, but he didn't want me to read it until it was in a different condition than it was. So my call, you know, I talked to Eddie. We text every day. We visit a couple of times a week. He hit me, and he said, where are you. I said, I'm getting coffee. He says, I think you should read this script now. And at that point, it just began to fly.

JERMAINE FOWLER: When I heard I was going to play the son of Joaquim, like, it was I cried, man. Like, it was amazing. It was an amazing feeling. So many emotions went through me, because I loved the original so much. And it felt like, for some reason, it felt like Eddie Murphy adopted me. It felt like I was actually Eddie's son. Like, Eddie? Eddie is my dad? Like, no. Joaquim. Oh, right, right. Yes. Of course. Yes.

AKILEY LOVE: Everybody was kind of like a family to each other. Everybody was so nice, and, you know, the royal family was an actual family on set.

BELLA MURPHEY: That actually made me feel not as nervous going into it, because everyone was so, you know, warm and welcoming. So it, like, in the beginning, I was very nervous, because it's my first film. And, yeah. They helped me not be as nervous.

NOMZAMO MBATHA: Yeah, I mean, just being on said was just amazing, you know? You have Tracy Morgan playing music from his big boom box, and everybody dancing, and singing, and rapping along. You have so many, you know, things that are happening around us where even during takes, when you're supposed to hold that laughter in, and you wait for the word cut. And from cast, to crew, to background, everyone is bursting out and just laughing.

- And General Izzy would love nothing more than to take over Zamunda.

- Raise it higher.

WESLEY SNIPES: Oh, I was super excited about it, once I heard that they were making the film. But I wasn't invited onto the film at the outset, at the start. I kind of came on to it after a whole lot of other people were invited, which was cool. You know, I mean, you know, it is what it is. My feelings weren't hurt. You know, I figured that sooner or later, sooner or later, I'm going to have to go to somebody's house and knock on the door, and like, hey. You know, I'm, I'm here. You know? Put me down.

KEVIN POLOWY: You, Craig, and Eddie had all on Dolomite together. I believe that was your first film together with Eddie. It felt like a long time coming. Did, did this collaboration stem from that one?

WESLEY SNIPES: I think of my work in Dolomite was a great audition to show them that I could be a good actor in Coming to America 2, something so iconic. Yeah. I'm so glad I did a good job the first time around. See, kids? See kids, you never know. Do a good job every time. Every time, because you never know. You might be in the Coming to America 3.

- Just discovered that I may have a son here in this land.

- How much child support she getting from you?

- The king pays no child support.

- No child support for 30 years, and you came back? You is a dummy.

KEVIN POLOWY: Let me ask you this. I mean, not only are Joaquim and seventy back, but so are your other famous alter egos. You guys both play multiple characters again in this one. How did the processes of turning into those guys compare to the first film? I mean, is that, is that easier or more difficult 30 years later?

EDDIE MURPHY: It's the same exact, long, drawn out, five hours in the makeup chair process. It's the same thing. That didn't get any easier With the

KEVIN POLOWY: Didn't get any easier.

EDDIE MURPHY: No. It's still-- and you shoot, but you're playing more than one character in the scene, and you got these makeups on. So it's really, like, making it-- it turns into, it's like OK. Now this section of the movie is, now we're going to make a jigsaw puzzle. You know, make these little, tiny, little snippets of things.

- If I fail, If I succeed, you can't take away my dignity.

KEVIN POLOWY: Will Randy Watson ever get the spin off movie he deserves?

EDDIE MURPHY: You know, there's a TV spot that Amazon put together with a show like Randy Watson singing in concert. And I think it's for Valentine's Day. It's one of those commercials. They're going to have like Randy Weston sexual chocolates they're going to send out to people. And it looked estab-- looking, I was looking at it going, hey. That that could be the Randy Watson could be a movie unto himself.

WESLEY SNIPES: I heard he kind of pissed the General Easy off a little bit, you know. Walking around talking about he's the sexiest man in Africa. I don't know about that.