All language subtitles for Episode 06 Coming to America

America. It's worth coming to.

Because here, in this land of opportunity

are the world's biggest stars
and the world's best moviemakers.

And Coming to America had plenty of both.

Amen!
A-men!

John Landis and Eddie were both
so secure in their respective roles.

This creative coming together…

It was magical.

…was a cohesive,
collaborative master class.

Landis and Eddie
got in a fight on the set.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Apart from all the fighting, yeah.

Well, the fight…

He was trying to strangle me.

…to get Coming to America made

was a litigious, loveless quest.

"He took my idea."

Barely held together
by secret negotiations…

"We'll finish the day,
but we're no longer friends."

…pride…
Eddie wanted to play multiple parts.

Thank you.
…and dancing.

And down and four and up. Flip.

Don't forget the dancing.

In fact, the making of this movie…

…was such a disaster…

Maybe it was because of me, I don't know.

…that even Nostradamus got involved.

"No, I think it's ridiculous."
He goes, "Yeah, but…

…I'm not taking any chances."

And when it comes to spilling the beans
on these behind-the-scenes shenanigans…

I don't wanna talk about that.

…no one else was taking chances either.

I can't mention that on the camera.

Well, almost no one else.

I actually ****** and so ******.

What, now?

These are The Movies That Made Us.

Zamunda. A country of tradition, opulence,

rich history, and,

well, just richness.

Wipers!

But just under the surface
of this African Utopia…

…is just a man looking for love.
Ooh, ooh.

I want the woman to love me for who I am.

And so, Prince Akeem
goes looking for a queen

in where else but…

Queens.
Queens.

Where he samples the local cuisines.

I'm McDowell's.
Makes some friends.

Okay, now, what the fuck do you want?

Gets a job.

And that's when
the big bucks start rollin' in.

And makes his mom and dad so cranky,

they pop over to pick him up.
Can you tell us where he may be?

Only to discover that, in the end,

true love is probably better
than an arranged marriage.

The end. Good night, everybody.

There's more.

But unlike the rich, centuries-old
cultural heritage of Zamunda,

this story starts on a Saturday,
or more specifically…

Live from New York. It's Saturday Night!

Because since 1975,

SNL has been a staple
of American television history,

launching the careers
of superstar after superstar.

Whoa!

This is gonna be cool.

And for 45 years and counting,

it's led every aspiring
sketch comedy writer to dream.

One day, if I ever could work
on a show like this…

We got ourselves a writer here!

…then I'll know I've made it.

And Barry did dream and did make it,

because he started working
at SNL in 1980 along with this guy.

However…

SNL in 1980 was… grim.

NBC, for some reason,
decided to get rid of everyone.

So, what you had was basically a new show.

It was pretty miserable.

But that didn't bother
Barry and Dave… much.

And here we are trying to replace

the original geniuses
who had left the building.

People'd come up to me, say,
"Thanks for ruining our show."

The writing really was
on the wall for SNL.

Until I met Eddie Murphy.

But not Eddie Murphy as we know him.

This was a tiny Eddie Murphy,
fresh out of high school.

I always said Eddie suffered
for about two weeks

before he got his first network show.

Eddie Murphy seemed destined for stardom.

He's super, super young.

I am 19 years old. I have been Black
for 19 years on this Earth.

And when he first comes
on Saturday Night Live,

he is really sadly underutilized.

Why do you want me to look
at some sketches that are terrible?

And no one was writing for him,

and the rest of the cast
wasn't setting the world on fire.

And so, with everything to lose…

Dave and I go, "Let's write for this guy."

…they wrote this.

What's the story, Rahim?

Yo, baby!

I'll never forget standing
off camera looking at him,

'cause here's this kid, he's 19 years old.

He was going on TV
for the first time in his life,

and he was completely at ease.

I'd like to tell y'all this is the most
disgusting thing y'all pulled up-to-date.

He was a natural, as they say.

In the early '70s we braided our hair,
then the late '70s you had to braid yours.

Now it's 1980. We're on welfare.

By the end of next year,
y'all gonna be on welfare, too.

The set could've fallen down
around him, and he didn't care.

And everyone else cared a great deal,

because they very quickly noticed…

"This guy's great.
Whatever it is, he has got it."

And along with Barry and Dave,
he kept getting it.

And so, from then on,

Eddie hung out with Dave and I,

and 90 percent of Eddie's material
on the show was written by us.

He did all those famous
sketches that Eddie did.

You know, Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood.
Who is it?

He really gets the opportunity
to come to the fore

and just sort of showcase
his immense talent.

Would you welcome, Eddie Murphy.

He is the only Saturday Night Live
cast member who hosted the show

while he was a cast member.

Live from New York!
It's The Eddie Murphy Show!

Boy, without Eddie,
that show would have been canceled.

With these sketches,

Eddie had single-handedly saved
an American comedy institution,

and inevitably…

He was offered movies.

He says,
"I'm gonna do this movie, 48 Hours."

And it was huge.

What's happening, Luther?

Huge at the box office,
and huge for Eddie Murphy…

Heard of 'em now?
…netting him a Golden Globe nomination.

And in the process,
spawning the Buddy Cop genre.

Not bad for a kid just out of high school.

Yeah, but I look good.

And for his sophomore film,
Eddie Murphy starred in this.

Black or White. Dreadful title.

Very confident.
Who do you think you are?

Actually, who are you?
Seriously?

I have to introduce myself?
If you don't mind, part of the format.

Did you get other directors to do that?

Well, yes. This one did.

Hi. I'm Chris Columbus.

So did this one.

My name's John McTiernan.

And this one.

My name is Jan de Bont.

Um, okay.

All right, well,
maybe we'll come back to this.

And to be fair, in the early '80s,
John Landis was a very big deal.

Directing Animal House, The Blues Brothers
and An American Werewolf in London,

all within a span of about three years.

John Landis is probably the greatest
comedic director that ever lived.

One big hit after another,
he had sterling credentials.

And next on his list,
John hoped would be Black or White.

I hated that title.

In fact, I said to everyone,
"Whoever comes up with a better title,

I'll give a hundred dollars."

Are we talking about a wager, Randolph?

A hundred bucks
that this man very much wanted.

Hi, there. I'm George Folsey.

I was his producer.

And George produced a million-dollar idea.

"What would you think of Trading Places?"

And I thought, that's a brilliant title.

I may still owe him a hundred dollars.
Don't use this.

We won't.

So, John Landis and George Folsey…

Morning, Folsey.

…made Trading Places.

Starring, among other familiar faces,

breakout star, Eddie Murphy.

He was so wonderful on Trading Places.
He was so young and full of…

Yes?
…enthusiasm.

He had a sophistication and maturity.

He and John got along great.

And that chemistry really paid off,

because Trading Places
was a you-know-what.

And Eddie's star
now was truly on the rise.

But that didn't mean
he could call the shots.

Cut!
Not yet.

Who told you to say "Damn it," damn it?

Doesn't mean that he could've
walked into the studio and say,

"This is what I wanna do next."

But after his next movie,
Beverly Hills Cop…

Then he was a superstar.

…then he absolutely could, yes.

Yes, at this point he could basically
just commit to a movie,

and the only thing the studio wants
to know is, "Can you get it for June 8th?"

Meanwhile during the same time,

these two were also
coming up in the world.

Barry and I had a deal at Paramount.

And we were free to write
whatever we wanted.

It was amazing.
We could just go pitch an idea,

a one-sentence idea,
and they say, "Sounds good."

And it was right around this time,

as Eddie was able to make
whatever he wanted,

and Dave and Barry were able
to just write whatever they wanted.

Eddie calls David and I and he says
he has an idea for a movie.

I have something else in mind.
Tell no one of this.

"I want you guys to write it."

And Eddie's idea was called The Quest.

Because in real life,
he was on the ultimate one,

the quest to find true love.

Romance was pretty easy
for a guy in his situation.

I mean, all he had to do was show up.

He really was looking for a real
relationship at that point in his life.

He even talked about it in his stand-up.

I'm a target.

If I ever get married, I have to go
off to the woods of Africa…

And through this romantic anguish…

He pitched a story about the prince,

wanting to come to America
to find a bride who loved him for himself.

Ha! So that's it.

And at the end of the pitch,

Ned Tanen, the president of the studio,
looked to us.

He says, "How quickly
can you guys do this?"

"You got five weeks to write it,
start to finish. Can you do it?" We said...

Yes! Yes!

You know, we wrote fast and
we'd written for him on the show a lot.

And with that, Dave, Barry, and Eddie

got to work on this very special movie.

We were confident we could do it.

You must be out of your goddamn mind!

But they wouldn't be doing it
all by themselves,

because Eddie had a co-star.
Arsenio Hall!

Arsenio Hall is Eddie's friend,
and a comedian.

So Eddie wanted him in the movie
as his sidekick.

He'd already made that choice.

And, everyone agreed, a good choice.
It's hard.

Arsenio Hall also had
an impressive comedic background.

His physical comedy,

his reaction shots.

But Eddie had more than just
an amusing sidekick for his movie.

But not much more.

Eddie had written
20 pages of the script.

Rest of the story
kind of worked out, but no specifics.

With a crushing deadline…
We need it in five weeks.

…they'd need specifics, and fast.

So, Dave and Barry dove deep
into the intricacies of African culture.

No, no.

This is a fairy tale.

This was made up.

Instead, immersing themselves
in American culture.

Good morning, my neighbors!

Hey! Fuck you!

And as promised, five weeks later…

We handed in on Friday,
and Tuesday it's green-lit.

And we start shooting in January.

But with shooting scheduled
to start in just a few months…

Right.

…this slightly aimless production
was in dire need of some direction.

Originally, Eddie was supposed to direct.
But three weeks into the writing process,

he decided it was probably
too much work or…

I am not sure if I am ready.

He said, "What do you think of Landis?"
Who?

Yes, him.

Well, between his golden comedic touch…

I've made hugely successful comedies.

…and excellent rapport with Eddie,
he'd surely be the perfect choice.

However, there is
a little bit more to this story

that we should probably go back
and talk about.

As the crew watched in horror
early this morning,

actor Vic Morrow and two
Vietnamese children were killed.

On July 23rd, 1982,

as John Landis was directing
The Twilight Zone movie,

a helicopter stunt went wrong,
killing three people,

including two children.

The Twilight Zone filmmakers took heed

for their abuse of child labor laws.

Landis was charged by the DA's office
with manslaughter.

Landis became the first Hollywood director

to be tried for death on a movie set.

The tragedy, that was horrible.

But after the tragedy, you read that,
you know, it affected my career

and I never worked again, and I...

I don't understand why they say that.

I made some of my most
successful movies after that, but…

During the long wait
between the accidents and the trial,

John directed several movies
and even Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

But then in 1986,

John Landis, George Folsey,
and three other crew members were tried.

The trial has been
four years in the making.

They were ultimately acquitted.

But it made headlines for months on end.

What's been called
The Twilight Zone trial…

And the press for John Landis,
the golden boy, was not good.

I'm sorry, I think it's inappropriate
for me at this time to say anything.

He asked
certain people to come to court

to vouch for his character,

and he was bitter
that some people hadn't done that.

I think John was very hurt that

his friends in Hollywood
didn't step up and speak up for him.

Why don't you just go away?

Which brings us back to Eddie's question.

"What do you guys think of Landis?"

With John Landis
on the outside looking in,

and Eddie Murphy now
the biggest star in Hollywood,

well, the way Eddie tells it,

he just wanted to help out an old friend.

He felt that he owed him a favor.

He felt that he was doing me a favor,
he said?

He felt an obligation to Landis,

the man who helped launch
his road to stardom.

And what Eddie Murphy wanted…
Excuse me.

-…Eddie Murphy got.

Winthorpe, does he live here?

I got a call from Ned Tanen.

Or as everyone at Paramount
called him, The Boss.

And I went to Paramount.

And he said, "Would you like to do it?"

And I said, "Well, what does Eddie think?"

He says, "Eddie's requested you."

And I said, "Really? Well…

We'd have to work on the script."

I love John. John's a great guy…

There's definitely a "but" coming.

…but he can be a little strong
when you meet him.

We remember.
Did you get other directors to do that?

We go into Ned Tanen's office,
and John was storming around the room.

Just frothing mad. Here he's being offered
a chance to direct this big movie.

I remember him saying, "I don't know.
I don't know if these guys can write."

"What if the script sucks?"

Most comedy scripts are bad.

And I said, "Excuse me."

"What if the script is great
and you fuck it up?"

And John immediately said,
"I like this guy."

Those are two very talented guys,
working under insane circumstances.

And they had to please Eddie.
I know what I like.

And I know you know 'cause
you're trained to know what I like.

But more importantly,
they had to please me.

And to put it very nicely…

Landis is a…

a challenging director.

And there was always a concern about

how much control
he was going to have to have.

A lot,
beginning with the script.

The first thing I remember changing

is, Barry and David
had named the country Zmuda.

After a friend of ours, Bob Zmuda.

And then John Landis saw that and said…

"No! You can't call this country Zmuda!"

He said, "Put 'an' in it."

"Put an 'an' in it."
So we did.

And that's how it became…
Zamunda.

It is another beautiful day in Zamunda.

And that was about it for notes.

Except for a few more from the studio.

We were given notes by Paramount.

They want a car chase.
Hit it.

Because at that time,
movies had car chases.

And John grabbed the sheaf of notes
and said, "Come with me."

And we go up to the office of Ned Tanen,
the president of the studio.

He pushes past the receptionist,
storms into Ned Tanen's office and says,

"Don't you ever give notes
to my fucking writers again."

And threw them at him.
I thought, "Wow!"

"How does he get away with this?"

My pressure was that release date.
And that was, like, the Sword of Damocles.

We didn't have any time to rewrite it.

And John Landis didn't want us
to rewrite it. He liked it.

Because, thanks to Eddie,
John had quite a unique opportunity.

Because of his idea, I realized
I'm gonna make a Black movie.

But no one will notice.

Because, one,
Eddie was such a huge star.

And two, it's a love story.
Didn't matter if they were Black or not.

It made no difference.
His color made no difference to the story.

And that was very, very moving
and exciting to me.

And as well as this big idea
to be excited about,

with well over 50 Black roles to cast,

for many, it was the film
they'd been waiting for.

Coming to America really becomes that film

for past Black stars,
for current Black stars.

I'm all for that.

For up-and-coming Black stars.

Who the fuck is this asshole?

Samuel Jackson, who was
an unknown actor at that time.

Fuck you.

Dave and I'd gone, "This guy's good."

A junior Cuba Gooding Jr.
Whatever you needed.

You have riches. It wasn't like you were
trying to find a needle in a haystack.

You've got a smorgasbord.

It was their opportunity
to really show what they can do.

And one particular actor had done a lot.

We wanted James Earl Jones as the king,
but James Earl Jones wanted to play…

Yeah.
…the father.

He's always playing them.
I am your father.

And John Landis asked us to call him up
to try to convince him to play the king.

And we got on the phone and he said,
"Gentlemen, you know nothing about Africa,

but you sure know Queens."

With that they had their king.
Then it is settled.

And as for that father role
James Earl Jones had his eye on…

For the part of Mr. McDowell,
he wanted to cast…

Hi, I'm John Amos and I played
Mr. McDowell in Coming to America.

That's who you mean, right?
No, no.

He wanted to cast…

…Harry Belafonte.

And I said, "John, Harry Belafonte's
already got a Caribbean accent."

"This character needs to be
uniquely American."

Well, here's a unique
American waiting patiently.

I started as a writer in television.

I was Hollywood's only African-American
comedy writer on staff on a network show.

That, in turn, gave me the opportunity
to become an actor.

I got the job as James Evans,

Florida's husband
on the series Good Times.

You wanna run that by me again?

Florida's husband
on the series Good Times.

But the most impressively
relevant detail of John's career…

He used to work at a McDonald's.

It gets better than that.
He starred in a McDonald's commercial.

I was one of the red hats,
they called 'em in those days.

With an inbuilt skill that
another actor would take years to perfect.

And being cast in this movie
would allow John Amos to revisit

one other aspect of his roots.

It's real comfortable.

I knew I'd have a chance to work
with the late Madge Sinclair again,

who, of course, had portrayed
my wife, Belle, in the miniseries Roots.

She's a very, very capable actress.

My name is Aoleon.

Aoleon.

A alien.

And for Prince Akeem's love interest…

I actually cast Vanessa Williams.

Everybody thought that Vanessa Williams
was gonna get that part.

But then…
Shari came in.

Hello.
There was innocence about her.

And she asked to be Cinderella.

Well, if the shoe fits.

And while the casting continued,

up-and-coming stand-up comic…

Louie Anderson. Okay, Louie.

…was asking himself…

Am I a good actor?

And while he pondered this
over lunch one day…

Eddie comes in
with a big entourage.

I said to the waiter, "Hey."

"Put Eddie's bill on my credit card,

but don't tell him till I'm gone."

I think it was about $661.

Not that I remember.

I was only making
about a hundred bucks a week.

It'd be a Midwestern thing to do.

The next day, I get a call. Eddie Murphy.

He said, "I'm doing a little movie…"

See, I'm washing lettuce.

"…called Coming to America."

Soon, I'll be on fries.

"And I'm gonna make a part for you in it."

So he did.
A year or two,

I make assistant manager.
This one.

And that's where
the big bucks start rollin' in.

But Louie continued to wonder.

"I wonder if I'll be any good."
Mostly, I thought,

"Am I a good actor?" Which I'm really...
I... you know, maybe I'm not.

But there was one minor
casting decision befuddling the team.

I'm reading the screenplay
and I see at one point,

Eddie takes this money from Arsenio.

You have no more money,
you can cause no more mischief.

Only later to give it to a bum
under the Brooklyn Bridge.

I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if
he gives the money to the Duke brothers,

who are destitute
at the end of Trading Places?

That's a good idea. It's clever.

John didn't like it.

That's ridiculous.

Somehow it's breaking the frame.

Something John never ever does
apart from in all the films where he does.

I still thought it was
a pretty good idea, so...

I mentioned it again and he said,
"You bring it up again, you're fired."

… That's not entirely true.

Sure.

That's George's dramatic version.

Yeah. F…

Fuck you.
Okay.

Well, regardless of how it went down…-…

…the issue was dropped.

With just weeks until shooting began,

their quest to find actors was over.

And, incidentally,
it was still called The Quest.

But anyway, any remaining roles,
Eddie and Arsenio could do.

Eddie wanted to play multiple parts.

He admired that Peter Sellers had played
multiple roles in films before.

You have an astonishingly
good idea there, Doctor.

And despite a slightly confused studio…

"Can't we just hire other actors?"

You must be out of your goddamn mind!

It's important they play it.
That's the fun of it.

Thank you.
And when it came to choosing the man

who would make
this parade of profiles possible,

the choice was obvious.

Big round of applause for...

Rick Baker.

A master of prosthetic makeup.

Rick did the makeup on my first film.

Schlock!

Schlock.

About a gorilla named…

Schlock!

Schlock.
I was Schlock.

And John was so impressed
with Rick's work,

he hired him on basically
all of his movies,

including Coming to America.

He's the greatest that ever lived
at prosthetic makeup.

The guy's a genius.

And as for the comic genius
inside this genius's work…

Eddie's in a T-shirt
with an old Jewish man's face.

Who's the star of the picture?

It's this young guy
named Eddie Murphy, I think it is.

Christ, I hate him.

He had so much fun doing that character.

He went as the old
Jewish man out in the public,

just to see if people would buy it.

Actually, it's an idea
Eddie had long dabbled with.

Wait a second.

Actually, the hardest one
to write for was the old Jew.

And I remember I got stuck
and I called my dad up,

and I said, "What would
an old Jew say here?"

And he came up with the line…

This is beautiful. What is that, velvet?

But now with the mastery
of Rick Baker, lines almost didn't matter.

You could almost not control him, because
he just was possessed by this character.

I'm Eddie Murphy.

No one knew that was Eddie Murphy.

Well, that would soon change,

because when the cameras rolled
in January 1988…

We started filming.

…well, everyone in Queens
recognized Eddie Murphy then.

My goodness! It is you!

There was about 5,000 people
on Queens Boulevard.

And I thought, are these extras?
No, they know Eddie Murphy's here.

The guy I made Trading Places with…

Hey! Bubbles, man!

…is not the guy
I made Coming To America with.

Now he was a huge
international superstar.

Halt!

He had a huge entourage
that was almost comedic.

And although Louie
didn't have an entourage…

I had a trailer that says
"Louie Anderson" on it.

…well, he had his fans too.

I called my mom, I go,
"I'm in my own trailer."

But, you know, my mom,

"Well, bring me back
something from the trailer."

What, like a pillow or something?
What are you talking about?

While Louie was contemplating soft crime,

Eddie Murphy was just giving stuff away.

Because Eddie is free-spirited…

Emphasis on "free."

If any of his entourage
see something that they like,

like a watch, or a ring, or anything
like that, he'd go, "Do you like that?"

He'd take it, "Here. Take it."

Let them wear our princely robes.

And he says,
"The prop department will have more."

And so, yeah,
we had real Rolex watches.

And real Louis Vuitton bags…

Each piece, they're $80,000 or more.

Which were used
in the very first scene they shot.

And the generosity of Mother Nature
was on full display as well.

You just don't call up Mother Nature
and say, "Give me a rainstorm."

She did a bit better than that.

Overnight, a huge snowfall.

Behold, Semmi.

In the story,
we'd gone from green, green Africa,

and here we are in Queens,
and there was snow on the ground.

Well, among other things.

Nevertheless…
It was magical.

…with their first shot in the bag and
the bag safely away from the entourage…

"Here, take it."
…the magic continued.

Eddie is gifted. He's a brilliant mimic.

All his performances in the movie
are wonderful.

But Eddie didn't play
every role in the film.

And those other performances
were equally as wonderful.

For example…

We got to that part of the script

where my character
says something to King Joffer.

It was scripted as…
I don't give a damn who you are.

"I'll drop you like a bad habit."

I said, "No, I need something stronger

as a retort to the insult
that he's given to my daughter."

So, in front of superstar, Eddie Murphy,

and "prone to throwing notes
in people's faces," John Landis,

John Amos improvised.

You say one more word
about Lisa and I'mma…

"Break my foot off in your royal ass."

Pardon me?

At that point, Eddie just about collapsed.

So, with the mood on set free and easy…

"Here, take it."

Emphasis on free…

The thing I loved about working
with John Landis and with Eddie,

they were both so secure
in their respective roles.

Even the writers felt at home on set.

You know, writers usually
aren't welcome on the set.

Not John. He wanted us there.

And maybe just like that first day on set…

I'd use the word "magical."
It was magical.

A really chill set. Everybody is so cool.

And they finished shooting,

released the movie,
and everyone was happy.

It was magical.

Everybody is so cool.

There was one small problem.
Yeah.

You know, what I don't like is
so much will be made of the…

The "fight."
Sorry, did you say, "fight"?

I called Folsey immediately.
He was out there at the set.

"Get your ass back here now."

Landis and Eddie
got in a fistfight on the set.

Damn!
Can everyone slow down?

What?
You're kidding me, right?

It's not that interesting.
A fistfight?

No, no, no, that's a huge exaggeration.

Then what on earth happened?

You know, I still don't know, really,
what the hell it was about.

People have different memories
of this event.

I heard they were telling
"your mama" jokes.

And John Landis got the better of him
on the "your mama" joke.

What, now?
"Your mama" jokes.

There was no "your mama" joke
that I recall.

So, if it wasn't a "your mama" joke…

Maybe it was because of me, I don't know.

Maybe it was. Was it about Louie?

No.

If it wasn't about Louie,
then it could only be about…

money?
Yeah.

And it just so happens,
it was about Barry

and Dave's money.

I don't wanna talk about that.
Well, it's a bit late for that. Dave?

We were there in New York.

Supposedly, our expenses were being paid
by Eddie Murphy's company,

because we were writing a pilot
for Eddie Murphy Productions for CBS.

But according to Barry…

The deal was just supposed to be closed,

and it was taking a long time
for Paramount to close it.

Long time. Right.

That's how it began. John said, "Hey."
"Hey."

"Why don't you pay these guys?
You're supposed to pay their expenses."

Gee, is that what it was?

It was a joke. It was just a joke.

Which soon turned into
more physical comedy.

Excuse me for a moment.

I was talking to someone,
and I was grabbed from behind.

Eddie put his arm around, "Show him what
we do when he talks about our business."

It was a joke.
It wasn't a joke.

He was trying to strangle me.

Or was it the other way round?
John kind of playfully was choking Eddie,

and he didn't like what was going on, and…

But according to Dave…

John said, "Let me go."

"What the fuck are you doing?"
And according to Kevin…

It started with John
putting his hand on Eddie.

But one thing was indisputable.

And then John got all…
ruffled and went off to his car.

I was furious.

So, I took the script
from the continuity person and I said,

"Here, shoot your own fucking movie."

And I stormed off, and there's my driver.
I said, "Start the car!"

And we drive.

I get on the phone and I call my lawyer.

And I said,
"You call Paramount and tell them,

fuck them and fuck their movie."

And all this over a joke.

Or maybe not a joke.

Because it seemed like
Dave and Barry were merely punch lines

to something else that had been brewing.

John Landis had directed Eddie
in Trading Places

at a point when Eddie
was just starting out.

Eddie wasn't as big a star,

wasn't the dominant
alpha male in the relationship.

By the time Coming to America
was being made,

Eddie was a big name.

So, really, you could say
that they had traded places.

It altered their relationship.

The sand had shifted.

And those shifting power dynamics,
I think, they lead to conflict.

I think Eddie expected John to treat him

like the enormous star that he was then.

And I think John was disappointed
that Eddie didn't come down

and support him
during the Twilight Zone trial.

And with their differences unsettled,

the jury was out on the whole movie.

It was shut down.

And it looked like
we were at a standstill.

It was a very serious situation.

And no one was more acutely aware

of just how serious it was
than Landis's lawyer.

He goes, "If you quit,

they don't have to pay you."

And I'm like, "I... What?"

So I go back.

And with the movie on the line,
the writers stepped in to right the ship.

Barry and I kind of ran diplomacy.
Let's just put it that way.

I went back out to the car
and told Landis, "Eddie apologized."

"He's sorry. He wants you
to come back to the set."

It wasn't true, but I got him
back to the set, didn't I?

And when John
made his way to Eddie's trailer…

Eddie didn't have a trailer.

He had a big bus.
A bus. Yes, of course, he did.

We had this talk and he said,
"Okay, we'll go out."

"We'll finish the day,
but we're no longer friends."

And at that point, I said, "Deal."

They're both big boys,

and they knew the most important thing
was to get the movie done.

But understandably,
things were sort of awkward on set.

They wouldn't talk to each other
or say anything.

I see the two of you are getting along.

… no. So the crew improvised.

If Landis wanted something done on set,
he had to talk to Eddie's uncle.

Uncle Ray!
Who would then…

Relay it to Eddie.
And if Eddie had a message…

They had to have
the first assistant director…

Talk to…
Uncle Ray!

…who relayed the message to Landis.

Yeah, it got to be pretty,
pretty chaotic there for a while.

And the clashes over money continued.

This was the money I had made that
I had to make several different images

of Eddie on the... On the front there.

When I tell you he's got his own money,
I mean the boy has got his own money.

But they couldn't agree
over what it should actually look like.

If Landis liked it, Eddie didn't like it.

And if Eddie liked it,
Landis didn't like it.

For your trouble.

And while no one was sure
who was right on the money,

there's no disputing
who had final say on the coin.

The coins are beautiful.
I can show you one. I have one of those.

And speaking of money…

John comes into the editing room
in New York and he says, "George."

And with that tone of voice,
something's up.

Yes, go on.

He says, "George, Frankie Faison."

"Supposed to play the bum,
is now playing the landlord."

What the hell you boys done in here?

"Who do you think should play the bum?"
Not this again.

Says, "You know damn well
who I think should play the bums."

"We've had this discussion five times,
and I'm sick of it."

After all, this topic
for George was a sackable offense.

"You bring it up again, you're fired."

I know that.

He's furious.-…

He says, "Okay, I'll call Eddie."

"If Eddie likes it,
you call Don, I'll call Ralph."

And the verdict…

Eddie loves it.

Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy
were promptly contacted.

And they were happy to do it.

Mortimer, we're back.

And with the Eddie Murphy
Cinematic Universe firmly crossed over,

long before those Marvel guys did it,
shooting wrapped in New York.

It was off to sunny Los Angeles,

where the future
looked bright or dreadful,

according to the prophecies
of Nostradamus.

What?

I remember Eddie not wanting
to be in LA during that time period.

Apparently, he had seen some old
documentary narrated by Orson Welles.

Nostradamus has given us warnings
of a great earthquake.

And California was gonna
fall into the sea.

Fall into the sea.

Fall into the sea.

Tish-tosh, no one believes that baloney.

He goes, "Yeah, but,
I'm not taking any chances."

But Eddie's desire to avoid dire calamity

left John Landis staring down
his own impending disaster.

When?
Well,

the week they were scheduled to shoot
the party at the McDowell house.

Orson apparently convinced Eddie

that California was
gonna fall off on, like, Friday.

So, I had to finish Eddie by Thursday.

With no possible way
to shoot the entire scene by then,

Landis relied on the ancient art of…

Prophecy.
No, camera blocking.

I shot everything
with Eddie behind the bar.

This is where you're gonna be working.

I had him looking here,
looking there, looking here.

I had people come in and out
to make it work.

And when he was done, as predicted…

He left town.

And then I shot
the rest of the party without Eddie.

Luckily, the big one never came,

which was just as well for Landis,

because there was an entirely
different moving and shaking

scheduled for the LA shoot.

The huge dance number.

You know, I like musicals.
Everyone does.

And to choreograph
this over-the-top musical extravaganza…

I hired a very young choreographer
who was a Laker Girl,

who did some terrific stuff
with the cheerleaders, named Paula Abdul.

And if you're wondering
if he means that Paula Abdul…

Hi, I'm Paula.
There's really only one, isn't there?

Because long before she'd make her mark

as a multi-platinum
pop star/talent judge…

You're making me laugh, Paula.

…this former Laker Girl was known
for her film and TV choreography.

And my work with Janet Jackson
and the Jacksons.

Yes, yes. And them.

I got a call that John Landis
wanted to meet me.

And first thing he says, "So,
what do you know about African dancing?"

And I said, "A lot."
But more like…

Nothing.
But only like, because…

People who remember Can't Buy Me Love
remember the African anteater dance.

Which Paula had come up with
just a year before.

So I had this confidence
that I could do the job.

But there was no telling
how things would shake out,

because this time she wouldn't have
the African stylings of Patrick Dempsey,

nor would she have…
There was no music.

And that's because composer,
Nile Rodgers, hadn't written it yet.

So, I said, "Well, you're gonna do
the dance to a drumbeat."

But it was like a loop of drums.

Um…

Because I had to start choreographing.

Forced to march
to the beat of her own drum,

Paula's direction was simple.

Be a showstopper.

And on the day of shooting,
the show did stop.

I just remember walking on set

and seeing the opulence
of all of the dancers in their costumes.

And Deborah made
those wonderful costumes.

That would be John's wife, Deborah.

My name is Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
I'm a costume designer.

She designed Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Lots of movies.

But Deborah's big deal designs

created one teeny tiny problem
for Paula's dancers.

No, not the teeny tiny costumes.

The dancers were
literally falling on their butts.

Um…
Aren't they barefoot?

They can't do it barefoot.

No, they're wearing jazz shoes.

And these jazz shoes, well,

they weren't exactly
grooving with the floor.

There's no rubber on the shoes.

Um…
Jazz shoe is a dance shoe.

Thank you for being in my interview.
Sorry.

Landis came in, he says, "Greg, see
if you can make their feet stick better."

So they coated the floor in…

No.
Spray adhesive.

And with the dancers
finally able to stick their landings,

the cameras started rolling.

It took an entire day.
And when they were done…

The end result was just
really well-thought-out and executed.

And a good thing, too,
because if it hadn't worked out,

we would never have heard
of Paula Abdul again.

My album was about to be released.

Right, yeah, she could've
fallen back on that, if she had to.

And so, with this showstopper,
shooting stopped on The Quest.

Yes, it was still called that.

The head of marketing came out and said,
"We decided it's Coming to America."

Which everyone loved immediately.

Dave and I hated the title,
but we didn't have a better alternative.

They also didn't have any more time.

We had to finish completely
two weeks before release,

because Technicolor needed
two weeks to make prints.

So, those prints arrived
at the theaters wet.

Coming in hot and, wet,

Coming to America
came to theaters on June 29th, 1988.

And while Paramount waited

to see how their multi-million-dollar
investment turned out,

Louie Anderson was wondering
how his $661 investment turned out.

I remember just being really excited.
Another call to home.

"I'm at a premiere.
Can you believe it? For the movie."

"What movie is that?"
"Never mind." Anyway.

Hi.

It came to my scene.

See, I'm washing lettuce.

And I held my breath.

And that's where
the big bucks start rollin' in.

And I get a huge laugh.

And I went, "Fantastic."

The film debuted at number one…

It was an enormous hit.

…cementing Eddie Murphy as the undisputed
box office king of the 1980s.

A new sheriff in town.

Coming to America broke a couple of rules.

It was thought of in the business

that Black romantic comedies
would not do well at the box office.

The film grossed
$128 million in the US,

and was Paramount's
highest-grossing picture of the year.

And another thing,

was that films with all-Black casts
wouldn't travel well overseas.

Poppycock. Coming to America
made over $161 million over the seas.

In fact, it was the first movie
with a Black actor to be a hit in Japan.

Amen. Praise the Lord.

And for the cast and crew,
they couldn't quite believe it.

We had a running bet

about what we thought the ultimate gross
on the picture would be financially.

None of us were even close.

But it wasn't just the crew

keeping a close eye on
the unpredictably tremendous success,

because the movie was hit with
five lawsuits, one of which really stung.

A prince was saying he knew Eddie,
and that it was ripped off from his life.

No, it wasn't that one.
That one went nowhere.

But another one did.

The infamous Art Buchwald story.

Apparently, Buchwald…

A well-respected writer.

…who had a column,
I think, in Washington Post.

He claimed the script
had been based on his story.

About an African royalty…

Like Prince Akeem.
…who came to Washington.

Well, they go to Queens.

And while he was here,
you know, there's a coup.

Well, King Joffer's very much in power.

He was rich and now
he's gotta be under the radar.

Whoa, whoa.
So there's no love story?

Which, as you will notice,
is vastly different

than the story of Coming to America.

You are not Akeem.
I know that.

But the judge disagreed,
and Paramount settled with Art Buchwald.

From then on, I was having to explain
to everyone I met who said

"You're the writer of Coming to America?"

"So you stole that idea?"
No, I didn't steal the idea.

It was very disappointing, because
you have a success and it's tarnished.

Looking back on it,

we should've sued
the fuck out of Paramount.

They knew of the connection
with the Buchwald case.

And then hired Barry and Dave
to write Coming to America anyway.

If they knew that,
then we were the victims here.

For many people, including Dave and Barry,

Coming to America was a turning point.

You know, we continued to get work,
but I'll be honest with you.

You know, we applied for a membership
in the motion picture academy.

We were turned down,
and I think that's why.

I think we were damaged.

And for George Folsey,
it was the end of a partnership.

Coming to America was
the last movie that I did with John.

I've been very lucky
that I have the career that I had,

and I owe an awful lot of it to John,

but going through
the whole Twilight Zone issue,

um, took its toll.

It was a very stressful five years,
and I just kind of needed a break.

And in some ways, I'm sorry that I...
That I left.

And in other ways, I'm not.

And just as Coming to America
marked the end of George and John's films,

it appeared to do the same
for John and Eddie.

I went to the premier, of course,
and in the men's room,

I saw Eddie, and he didn't say hello.

I didn't see him again for years.

I mean, Eddie famously ended up
on Arsenio's couch and said…

John Landis would have an easier time
working with Vic Morrow again.

He made that awful joke.

And after trading some barbs in the press,

their differences seemed
truly irreconcilable.

Until 1993, anyway,
when John got a call from Paramount.

Sherry Lansing called me up…

and said, "John, would you like
to direct Beverly Hills Cop III"?

And I said, "Who's playing Eddie Murphy?"

She said, "No, Eddie suggested you."
And I thought, "What?"

"No, he did. Why? Do you still...?
Do you not like each other?"

I went over to his house
and we talked about it.

I thought the script was lousy.

Hey!
That's not fair.

Sorry.

And I said, "You know, Eddie, the script,

I have problems with it."
He said, "Well, you'll fix it."

Thank you.

Hollywood is a very
bizarrely forgiving place.

I am still fond of Eddie, you know.

Even on Coming to America, I enjoyed
working with him because he's so…

You know, he's so gifted.

A collaboration isn't supposed to be,

"We're best friends through all this."

It's a passionate business.
It's driven by people who are passionate.

And when you're passionate,
you're going to get tempers.

Well, the making of Coming to America

certainly had its fair share of…

Fuck this guy.
Fuck you!

What if you fuck it up?
Yeah. Passion.

Fuck you, too!

But in this case, it really paid off.

Coming to America is brilliant, because
it really functions as two films in one.

For John Landis…

The color of the characters
had nothing to do with the plot.

…it was an opportunity to make a movie
that transcended the boundaries of color.

It's very much a traditional
Hollywood romantic comedy.

To Eddie Murphy…

I was trying to come up
with something really different.

…it was a personal story that celebrated
Black humor and Black actors.

But then on the other hand, it's very much
a culturally specific Black text,

with the humor being rooted
in aspects of Black culture.

And while the quite literal fight

to make this movie left some egos bruised,

the film that came of it was something
the world had never seen.

If you think about the history of cinema,

Black characters don't get
to participate in fairy tales.

And, to me,
that's what Coming to America provides.

It provides a fantasy of African royalty.
It provides the fairy tale.

I am no longer the Prince of Zamunda.
I renounce my throne!

And even decades later,

it's still providing inspiration.

It's lasted three decades plus,
and it will continue.

It means so much to so many people.

I heard, at least 20 times in my life,

"What made me wanna come
to America was that movie."

When a movie is made
that stands the test of time,

there's a bit of a miracle
that had to happen.

And no one person is capable
of figuring all that out.

Not even one person…

You must be out of your goddamn mind!

…who plays a lot of people.

Or just one writing team,
one producer, one director.

Because in the end, the only way
this team could make Coming to America

was by coming together.

Wait, there's just one last thing.

My name is John Landis,
and I directed Coming to America.

Wasn't so hard, was it, John?