Editing Coming to America (section)

==Release==
Paramount cancelled press screenings of the film after initial negative reactions to a press screening in New York City.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shadowandact.com/when-paramount-withheld-coming-to-america-from-film-critics-worried-about-box-office-not-knowing-what-they-had|title=When Paramount Withheld 'Coming To America' From The Press, Not Knowing What They Had|last=Obenson|first=Tambay A.|date=April 5, 2013|website=Shadow and Act|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512025351/http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/when-paramount-withheld-coming-to-america-from-the-press-not-knowing-what-they-had|archive-date=May 12, 2013|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref>

===Box office===
Released on June 29, 1988, by [[Paramount Pictures]] in the United States, it was a commercial box-office success, both domestically and worldwide.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-26-ca-6143-story.html|title=Weekend Box Office : 'Rabbit' and 'America' Battle for Dollars|last=Easton|first=Nina|author-link=Nina Easton|date=July 26, 1988|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-05-ca-271-story.html|title=Nice Guys Finish First : Roger Rabbit' Hops to Box-Office Top; 'Coming to America' Hits 2nd|last=Easton|first=Nina J.|author-link=Nina Easton|date=January 5, 1989|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> The film debuted at number one with $21,404,420 from 2,064 screens, for a five-day total of $28,409,497. The film made $128,152,301 in the United States and ended up with a worldwide total of $288,752,301.<ref name="BOM"/> It was the highest earning film that year for the studio and the third-highest-grossing film at the [[United States]] box office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1988&p=.htm|title=1988 Domestic Grosses|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[IMDb]]|access-date=April 2, 2011}}</ref>

It opened a month later in the UK and earned $7,712,622 during its seven-week run. It opened on September 2 in West Germany, where it debuted at number one with $3,715,791 from 297 screens. It ended its run after 13 weeks with $15,743,447. Several contemporary articles stated that the worldwide gross for the movie was $350 million.<ref name="Gross Profit"/><ref name="Murphy made millions"/><ref name="AFI film-55743"/>

===Reception===
''Coming To America'' received positive reviews upon release.{{Anchor|Critics|Critical response}}
{{RT prose|{{RT data|score}}|{{RT data|average}}|{{RT data|count}}|Eddie Murphy was in full control at this point, starkly evident in ''Coming to America''{{'}}s John Landis' coasting direction.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coming_to_america/|title=Coming to America (1988)|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|date=June 29, 1988 |publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date=March 5, 2022}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|47|16}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/coming-to-america|title=Coming to America Reviews|work=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=Paramount Streaming|access-date=June 29, 2018}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-20|title=Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search|url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|access-date=2020-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|archive-date=December 20, 2018}}</ref>

Sheila Benson in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called it a "hollow and wearying Eddie Murphy fairy tale" and bemoans, "That an Eddie Murphy movie would come to this."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-29-ca-4869-story.html|title=Spare Fare in Eddie Murphy's 'America'|last=Benson|first=Sheila|date=June 26, 1988|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=February 22, 2022}}</ref> [[Vincent Canby]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' was also critical of the writing, calling it a "possibly funny idea" but suggesting the screenplay had escaped before it was ready. Canby viewed the film as essentially a romantic comedy but said the romantic elements fell flat, and the film instead goes for broad [[slapstick]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/29/movies/review-film-african-prince-in-queens.html|title=Review/Film; African Prince in Queens|last=Canby|first=Vincent|date=June 29, 1988|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 26, 2010|author-link=Vincent Canby}}</ref> Kathleen Carroll of the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' called the film "an adorably amusing upscale fairy tale, an endearingly romantic comedy which has all the fabulous fake opulence of an old-fashioned Hollywood musical as well as the traditionally sappy happy ending."<ref>{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Kathleen |date=June 29, 1988 |title=Embarrassment of Riches |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/134381741/ |work=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]] |location=New York, New York |access-date=October 31, 2023}}</ref> [[Siskel & Ebert]] had mixed opinions on the film. Siskel enjoyed the acting from Murphy and Hall but Ebert was disappointed that Murphy did not bring his usual more lively performance, and Ebert was also critical of the unoriginal script.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGrJjh730LA |title=Youtube |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=November 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806182648/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGrJjh730LA |archive-date=August 6, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Siskel, in print, reviewed the film more enthusiastically, giving it three and a half stars out of four, and describing it as "a sweet, oft-told story", adding that "Murphy and Hall add a number of very sharp supporting roles hidden by makeup to add spice to the general level of gentleness."<ref>{{cite news |last=Siskel |first=Gene |date=July 1, 1988 |title=Flick of Week: Murphy's acting wins in 'America' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/134381801/ |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |location= |access-date=October 31, 2023}}</ref>

===Awards===
{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}

The film was nominated for two [[61st Academy Awards|Oscars]]: [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] for [[Deborah Nadoolman Landis]] and [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling|Best Makeup]] for [[Rick Baker]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1989|title=The 61st Academy Awards {{!}} 1989|work=Oscars.org|access-date=February 22, 2018}}</ref> who designed the makeup effects for both Murphy's and Arsenio Hall's multiple supporting characters.<ref>{{Citation|title=Coming to America (1988) Awards|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/awards|work=[[IMDb]]|access-date=February 22, 2018}}</ref>

===Lawsuit===
The film was the subject of the ''[[Buchwald v. Paramount]]'' civil suit, which the humorist [[Art Buchwald]] filed in 1990 against the film's producers on the grounds that the film's idea was stolen from his 1982 [[film treatment|script treatment]] about a rich, despotic African potentate who comes to America for a state visit. [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] had [[option (filmmaking)|optioned]] the treatment from Buchwald, and John Landis was attached as director and Eddie Murphy as the [[leading actor|lead]], but after two years of [[development hell]] Paramount abandoned the project in March 1985. In 1987, Paramount began working on ''Coming to America'' based on a story by Eddie Murphy.<ref>[http://www.cardozoaelj.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/marcus.pdf Buchwald v. Paramount Pictures Corp. and the Future of Net Profit] — retrieved May 2015</ref><ref>Thane Rosenbaum, ''The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What's Right'' [https://archive.org/details/mythofmoraljusti0000rose/page/182 page 182].</ref> Buchwald won the [[breach of contract]] action and the court ordered monetary damages. The parties later settled the case [[out of court settlement|out-of-court]] before an appeal going to trial.<ref>Thane Rosenbaum wrote, "In 1995, the syndicated columnist [[Art Buchwald]] prevailed after a seven-year legal battle against [[Paramount Pictures]], claiming that he had submitted the idea, and the original script, for the [[Eddie Murphy]] film, ''Coming to America,'' without ever being properly compensated or acknowledged for his efforts. The trial court eventually agreed with Buchwald, although the damage award that he received was considerably less than what he had sought, and even less than what he eventually had to pay out in legal fees." --''The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What's Right'' [https://archive.org/details/mythofmoraljusti0000rose/page/182 page 182].</ref>

In August 2022, Paramount filed a lawsuit against JMC Pop Ups LLC for creating a temporary version of McDowell's, the fictional fast food restaurant similar to [[McDonald's]], via the [[Copyright Claims Board]], a tribunal created in 2020 to deal with such matters. The pop up restaurant had operated in [[Springfield, Virginia]], and [[Cherry Hill, New Jersey]], in 2022 prior to the suit. McDowell's was featured in both the original movie and its sequel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ansari |first=Talal |date=2022-08-28 |title=Paramount Sues Company Behind McDowell's Pop-Up, Citing 'Coming to America' Infringement |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/paramount-sues-company-behind-coming-to-america-mcdowells-restaurant-pop-up-11661692993 |access-date=2022-08-29 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>