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Image Source: Paramount Pictures Thirty-seven years ago, back on June 29, 1988, Coming to America was released and it changed everything for romantic comedies. It was directed by John Landis, and Eddie Murphy famously starred. It wasn’t just some rom-com; it perfectly mixed that fairy tale vibe with super sharp, honest jabs at culture. It became an instant classic, just like that. The story kicks off with Prince Akeem Joffer. He’s the royal heir to Zamunda, right? But he’s totally over the whole arranged marriage thing – especially to a lady who, you know, clucks like a chicken. So what does he do? He ditches the palace, packs his bags, and heads straight for Queens, New York. Why? To find real love. Like, a woman who loves him for him, not his crown. He disguises himself as just a humble student. And his loyal sidekick, Semmi (played hilariously by Arsenio Hall...

The Lion King’s Original Title, Scrapped Scenes & Forgotten Songs Will Leave You Stunned ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Disney’s The Lion King wasn’t always the roaring success we remember. In fact, it was almost called King of the Jungle, per sources. The catch? Lions don’t live in the jungle. Once the creators realized this, the iconic title was changed, setting the stage for what’d become one of Disney’s most beloved animated classics.

Almost 25 years ago, The Lion King introduced us to the circle of life, hakuna matata, and the savanna’s most intense sibling rivalry. As Disney prepared for the live-action remake, it was the perfect time to look back on the original’s legacy and uncover its most surprising secrets.

Back in production, The Lion King was overshadowed by Pocahontas. Many top animators jumped to work on Pocahontas, expecting it to be the bigger hit.

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Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was an excellent character on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Because he was the chief engineer on the USS Enterprise-d, Burton was given the bulk of the show's trademark technobabble, often talking about subspace manifolds, phase inducers, and the state of the structural integrity field. Technobabble was vital on the series, as it allowed viewers to envision how complicated a vehicle the Enterprise actually was, implying that its navigation required hundreds of people overseeing dozens and dozens of systems. Its complexity made the Enterprise feel more realistic, and, dare I say, plausible.

At the center of it, Geordi wasn't just a master of the Enterprise's engine systems, but he was a nerd about it. He loved machines and complicated technical systems, eager to use his ingenuity to solve complicated engineering problems. All of...

Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) is most remembered as the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise-d on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Throughout his Starfleet career, La Forge proved himself to be a brilliant engineer who came to know the Enterprise-d's engines better than anyone. On numerous occasions, Geordi kept the ship running even when the odds were stacked against him. Born blind, Geordi never let his disability slow him down, and his Visor often provided useful insight during away missions, as it allowed him to see across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Soon after joining the Enterprise crew, Geordi became friends with Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), and the two regularly spent their off hours together. Data, in particular, enjoyed pretending to be Sherlock Holmes on the holodeck with Geordi as his Dr. Watson. Geordi was one of the most influential figures in Data's quest to become human, as he saw...

Quick Links Princess Kiara First Appeared in The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride Simba and Nala’s Cub Is Often Depicted as Male in Other Disney Media Kiara Is the Only Animal Disney Princess

When The Lion King first premiered in 1994, it broke a trend during the Disney Renaissance that began with The Little Mermaid in 1989. Instead of featuring a princess as a central or supporting figure in the story -- it followed a young lion prince named Simba grappling with life-altering challenges as he comes of age in the African savanna. The Disney creatives developing the movie realized at one point that they were basically re-imagining William Shakespeare's Hamlet and leaned into the idea. It tackled heavy themes like childhood trauma, grief, and adult responsibilities. All the while producing some of the 1990's most memorable Disney tunes.

Years later, in 1998, a princess would be introduced to the...

The actress who portrayed Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge's (LeVar Burton) mother in Star Trek: The Next Generation had appeared as Star Trek's first Black female captain a few years before. Not much was revealed about Geordi's family throughout Tng's run and neither of his parents appeared on the show until season 7. As the Chief Engineer on the USS Enterprise-d under the command of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Geordi's storylines typically involved him solving engineering problems with his best friend, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner).

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 3, "Interface," Geordi learns that the USS Hera has gone missing and that all of its crewmembers, including Captain Silva La Forge (Madge Sinclair), are presumed dead. Prior to learning this information, Geordi, Data, and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) had been testing an interface device that would allow Geordi to see through and pilot with his iconic Visor.

With all due respect to Coming to America’s Cleo McDowell — owner of an off-brand McDonald’s featuring a logo with golden arcs, not arches, and a Big Mick burger, not a Big Mac — John Amos’ two most iconic roles came more than a decade prior, in the Seventies. In 1974, CBS debuted Good Times, where Amos and Esther Rolle played James and Florida Evans, parents struggling to keep their kids’ heads above water in a Chicago housing project. After he was fired from the show for complaining that James and Florida...

Rachel Ticotin is an American actress who has been performing since 1978 and has had major roles in classic science fiction films and modern police procedurals. Born on November 1, 1958, in the Bronx, New York, Ticotin, who is half Puerto Rican on her mother's side, began her acting career as a dancer in the film King of the Gypsies. Only a few years later, Ticotin ended up with a starring role in the police drama Fort Apache, The Bronx, a movie that would inform many of her future police and law enforcement performances.

Since then, there have only been a handful of years when Rachel Ticotin has not performed in either a TV show or a movie. Though she is not always in the main cast, even her smaller roles tend to have at least one important moment as memorable as anything else in the movie or episode. She has the capacity...

Coming to America hits Paramount+ next week, so you can relive Eddie Murphy's comedic magic on August 1, 2024. Eddie Murphy shines in this iconic film about Prince Akeem's pursuit of true love, a timeless classic. Coming to America's star-studded cast and critical acclaim solidify its status as one of the funniest movies of all time, difficult to forget.

Eddie Murphy's Coming to America is going to stream sooner than you think on Paramount+, and you'll be able to catch up on one of the comedian's most important movies. The news was confirmed by Cbr, who are pointing out that the film will start streaming on Paramount's platform next week, on August 1, 2024.

Coming to America tells the story of Prince Akeem Joffer, who was born in a very wealthy country in Africa called Zamunda. The king and queen of the fictional country, King Jaffe and Queen Aoleon are eager...

Coming to America is coming to Paramount+. The beloved 1980s comedy starring Eddie Murphy, which is currently without a streaming home, will be added to the Paramount-owned service next month.

Set to arrive on Paramount+ on Aug. 1, 2024, Coming to America stars Murphy as Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda who travels to the United States in the hopes of finding a woman he can marry who will love him for who he is and not for his status. The comedy film also stars Arsenio Hall as Akeem's friend, Semmi; James Earl Jones as Akeem's father, King Jaffe Joffer; John Amos as Cleo McDowell; Madge Sinclair as Akeem's mother, Queen Aoleon Joffer; and Shari Headley as Lisa McDowell, Akeem's love interest and Cleo's eldest daughter.

Related 'I Forced Myself to Stop': Eddie Murphy Recalls Retiring Trademark Laugh

Exclusive: Eddie Murphy reflects on...

Efrosians in Star Trek were originally seen in movies, but a new named character is introduced in Discovery season 5. The design of Efrosians was created by artist Thomas Blackshear and translated into prosthetics by makeup artist Brian Wade. The Efrosians have limited appearances on screen, with only 3 Efrosians appearing in Star Trek, including the Federation President.

The Efrosians in Star Trek appear twice, and only briefly, in the Star Trek movies, before a named Efrosian character debuts in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. The Efrosians are a Star Trek alien species characterized by long, flowing white or platinum blonde hair, piercing light eyes, and V-shaped cranial ridges. The first two appearances of Efrosians imply that every member of the species may be blind, but without a larger sample size, it's hard to tell if that's a universal trait among all Efrosians, or simply coincidence. It's possible -- and far more likely...

Was it because of the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., or simply a sign of the times, that the 2023 Emmys was its most diverse ever?

As the awards show celebrated its 75th anniversary, five of the 12 acting Emmys handed out on Monday night — pushed four months to MLK Day as a result of the 2023 strikes — went to performers of color, tying the record set at the 1991 ceremony, when Lynn Whitfield, Madge Sinclair and Ruby Dee took home statuettes (and James Earl Jones took home two).

The show made history with its first two awards of the night, with wins for The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri and Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson marking the first time that the supporting and lead comedy actress Emmys both went to Black women in the same year. (The feat was previously accomplished in the drama races with Viola Davis and Uzo Aduba in 2015.) Brunson...

Star Trek's first female Captain is a complicated issue, with different answers depending on how it's viewed. Captain Hernandez from Star Trek: Enterprise was the first female Captain chronologically in the Star Trek universe. The confusion arises from how Captain Janeway was advertised, leading to her being most closely associated with the title.

Contrary to popular belief, Star Trek's first female Captain wasn't Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) or even Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano). The title of first female Captain is a complicated issue within the Star Trek franchise, with different answers depending on how the concept is viewed. From an outside standpoint, Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Janeway often gets stuck with the title, since she was the first female lead of a series, succeeding characters like Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), and host of other almost exclusively male Captains that had come before her.

"The Lion King" explores the theme of the circle of life, emphasizing the importance of balance and respect among all creatures in the ecosystem. Scar's desire for power and his hierarchical view of the savanna lead to the destruction of the environment and the breakdown of the circle of life. The hyenas, who are promised a better life by Scar, ultimately turn against him, implying that manipulation and exploitation will have consequences.

The ending of Disney's 1994 animated The Lion King sees the "circle of life" restored after Simba returns to Pride Rock to rescue the other lions from his evil uncle Scar and his hyenas. The Lion King is one of Disney's most popular animated films and ranked #37 on IMDb's top 250 films of all time. The Lion King features a star-studded cast of 90s celebrities including James Earl Jones, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas,...

The Primetime Emmys are not necessarily known for honoring projects featuring casts that are primarily minority/people of color. The TV academy has never, for instance, given the Best Drama Series trophy to such a show. The statuette for Best Comedy Series has been won by a series featuring a largely minority cast precisely once: “The Cosby Show” in 1985. But the category of top limited/anthology/miniseries has paid golden tribute to programs with mostly minority casts a handful of times before, helping give Netflix’s “Beef” with its predominantly Asian American lineup a genuine shot to take home the biggest prize.

“Beef” tied with “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” for the most nominations among all non-regular series programs with 13. It’s presently in the lead among Gold Derby voters in the limited series race with 16/5 combined odds. Its star Ali Wong is also in first place among limited lead actresses,...

Star Trek icon Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) has become a legendary member of the franchise and has featured in some all-time great episodes of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard. Burton was already a household name by the time he joined the final frontier, having made a named for himself with the groundbreaking miniseries Roots and the educational children's program Reading Rainbow. Geordi made his debut in the Tng pilot "Encounter At Farpoint," an eager young Ensign understandably excited for his adventures on the USS Enterprise-d to get underway.

Geordi was promoted to the ship's Chief Engineer at the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, a role he'd stay in for the remainder of Tng's seven-season run, as well as the four followup films starring the show's cast. Two decades after the final Tng film, Star Trek: Nemesis, Geordi made his triumphant return...

In 2021, Emma Corrin was widely expected to follow up their Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award wins for playing Princess Diana on the fourth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” with a Best Drama Actress Emmy victory. In fact, 69% of the people who predicted the race on Gold Derby thought this would be the outcome, but the trophy ultimately went to fourth-place runner Olivia Colman for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II on the same series. Now, Elizabeth Debicki and Imelda Staunton, who respectively replaced Corrin and Colman as their “Crown” characters, are vying for their own TV academy recognition, but will not have to face each other since Debicki is seeking the Best Drama Supporting Actress prize. It’s an interesting move, and it just might pay off.

The fifth season of “The Crown,” which takes place between 1991 and 1997, focuses heavily on how Diana and Prince Charles (Dominic West...

Sheryl Lee Ralph and Tyler James Williams are looking to make some Emmy history this year as the current comedy supporting actor/actress category frontrunners for their performances in the ABC comedy hit “Abbott Elementary.” Ralph of course memorably won last year – complete with a powerful singing acceptance speech – and is going for two in a row after also taking the comedy supporting actress trophy at the Critics Choice Awards in January. Williams, who won a Golden Globe earlier this year, is looking to keep Brett Goldstein from pulling off an Emmy three-peat for “Ted Lasso” after being nominated a year ago.

Should both Ralph and Williams triumph, it would be the first time that performers of color won in the comedy supporting categories in the same year. In fact, it would be the first time African Americans took home an Emmy statue in the same year in any supporting series category – drama included.

NBC network dominated the 35th annual Primetime Emmys, with a groundbreaking drama continuing a winning streak, a little-watched sitcom making its name known and another sitcom proving the network might have cancelled it too soon. Eddie Murphy and Joan Rivers hosted the event on September 25, 1983. Rivers claimed she had waited nine years for an invitation to the Emmys, and would be wearing every dress she owed (which ended up being nine), and Murphy was excited about his first nomination. Read on for our Emmys flashback 40 years ago to 1983.

Two years prior, a little police drama had debuted, changing television with its realism and continuing storylines involving the personal lives of the characters. “Hill Street Blues” not only dominated the Nielsen ratings, but it won numerous Emmys throughout its run. This year would mark its third of four consecutive Best Drama Series victories, winning over “Cagney & Lacey,” “Fame,” “Magnum, P.I.” and “St. Elsewhere.

Before Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Star Trek's first female Captain made history twice. Star Trek now boasts many female Captains, most notably Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery, and Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) from Star Trek: Lower Decks. But the first female starship Captain in the franchise was actually seen in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

When Star Trek: Voyager launched in 1995, Kate Mulgrew received her due acclaim as the "first female Captain." But it really must be clarified that Mulgrew's Kathryn Janeway was the first female Captain to headline her own Star Trek series, which was a stellar and historic achievement. Subsequently, when Michael Burnham became Captain at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, she was hailed as the franchise's first Black female Captain, but this was also incorrect. But Burnham is the first...

Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) is often referred to as Star Trek's first Black Captain, but that honor actually goes to another in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. The first few Star Trek movies contained a number of firsts for the franchise, including the first Black female starship Captain, who was played by Madge Sinclair in 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. But Star Trek II made African-American history over a decade before Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered in 1993.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sisko didn't even start out as a Captain. Brooks' hero was given the rank of Commander, thanks to a shortsighted decision that Sisko was in charge of a space station instead of commanding a starship. Sisko labored under this lesser rank for 3 seasons until DS9's executive producer Ira Steven Behr and Brooks finally won, and Sisko was approved...

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On July 23 at San Diego Comic-Con, Dawnn Lewis shared an impromptu tribute to Nichelle Nichols, the trailblazing Star Trek star. Lewis, who voices Capt. Carol Freeman on Star Trek: Lower Decks, told 6,500 fans about looking up to Nichols as a child and later sharing a decades-long friendship. Days after that emotional Comic-Con moment, Nichols passed away on July 30 at the age of 89. Here, Lewis reflects on the iconic actor and activist, best known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura.

Right after Comic-Con, I got home and I called Nichelle to tell her what happened. I said, “A bunch of people are probably going to call you to tell you that I lost it.” We talked for 45 minutes, and then four days later, she is gone. That was really hard for me. On that same Tuesday, we had a family member pass away. Wednesday, Mary Alice passed away.

History was made at last year’s Primetime Emmys as, for the first time, two supporting actors (Dan Levy and Annie Murphy) won for their work on the final season of the same comedy series (“Schitt’s Creek”). Both champs, along with 2020’s drama supporting winners are out of the running this year, as are all of their lead counterparts. The resulting complete lack of potential for back-to-back victories in the continuing series acting categories is another momentous first and guarantees an exciting outcome.

This year, the TV academy has nominated 31 supporting players who represent 11 series, some of which recently premiered while others just aired their finales. When it comes to determining the four eventual winners, a great deal of insight can be drawn from examining the results of past ceremonies, especially in terms of which season numbers have led to the most triumphs.

The two comedy supporting prizes, which were...

History was made in a monumental way with the announcement of the 2021 Primetime Emmy nominations as Mj Rodriguez (“Pose”) became the first trans lead acting nominee. This year also marks the first instance of three Black women being included in the same Best Drama Actress lineup, as Rodriguez is up against Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) and Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country”). Any of them would be only the third Black winner of this award, and a victory by Rodriguez or Smollett would be even more distinctive in that either of them would be the first actress in a quarter century to snag this award for a final season.

“Pose” wrapped its three-season run in June with a proper two-part finale, while “Lovecraft Country” was unexpectedly cancelled in July after having aired its inaugural season’s last episode nine months earlier. While female stars of drama series have been nominated for final...

I don’t envy the job of anyone tasked with taking a classic Eighties comedy — Coming to America, say — and making a decades-later sequel that tries to please its guaranteed audience. Namely, everyone who loved the original, people who’ve rewatched it a million times, who have Soul Glo memes saved on their phones, who know every word to Sexual Chocolate’s song who — as in my case — grew up in families where Coming to America was probably the only consensus movie that everyone from my grandmother down to myself...

When one thinks about 1988’s Coming to America, a few things stand out: James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair as the King and Queen of Zamunda speaking to their son Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) at a breakfast table with intercom radios; the opulence of Zamunda’s palace, which represented an idealized African nation to 1980s audiences the way Wakanda does today; and of course Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s Semmi fresh off the plane in Queens, New York with no idea what “common” means—or also Murphy and Hall under pounds of makeup as the argumentative old-timers at the nearby barbershop.

The film has many great elements that make it a comedy classic. However, what’s often overlooked is that the picture is not-so-secretly part of a shared cinematic universe. Indeed, Coming to America is the film which confirmed several of director John Landis’ films all occur in the same...

It’s hard to believe that after 30 years the speculation of what a Coming to America sequel might look like can finally be put to rest. The long-awaited arrival of Amazon Prime Video’s original movie Coming 2 America is upon us and the excitement, especially in a pandemic, is, in a word, explosive. Of course, it’s been “Wakanda forever” since Black Panther graced theaters in 2018 (Rip Chadwick Boseman), but in all honesty Zamunda was and is our first African fantasy country crush. So, it’s also “Zumunda forever and ever,...

Amazon Prime has finalized acquisition of worldwide rights to “Coming 2 America,” the long awaited sequel to the 1988 comedy classic starring Eddie Murphy, and will release it to subscribers globally on March 5, 2021, the company announced Friday.

Paramount originally slated the movie for a Dec. 22 opening in theaters. But after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the year’s theatrical release schedule, the studio began talks in October to sell “Coming 2 America” to Amazon in a deal worth around $125 million.

The sequel, which reunites Murphy with his “Dolemite Is My Name” director Craig Brewer, is set 30 years after the original as Murphy’s Prince Akeem prepares to ascend to the throne of the fictional African nation of Zamunda — only to discover that he has a long-lost son named Lavelle who lives in Queens.

To respect his father’s dying wish, he returns to America to find Lavelle and groom him as the new crown prince.

Jon Voight stars as the titular character, a young white teacher who comes to an island off the coast of South Carolina in March 1969. He's been hired to fill in for a teacher on a health leave, only to discover immediately that his African-American students, aged 10 to 13, are largely illiterate and ignorant of anything that's happened away from the island, where they've all lived since birth. Released in March 1974, Conrack is a sterling example of a 'white savior' narrative, as a white man educates the poor black 'babies,' which is how school principal Mrs. Scott (Madge Sinclair) describes the children. The teacher aims to raise up the children from their benighted state, despite the protests of Mrs. Scott, who is the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The 1994 animated film The Lion King was a critical and commercial hit and beloved by families. The Disney movie won two Oscars and has grossed more than $968 million worldwide.

The animated version was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, with a voice cast that included Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin.

In September 2016, it was announced that Disney is doing a CGI remake of the film with Jon Favreau set to direct. The cast of ...

The 1994 animated film The Lion King was a critical and commercial hit and beloved by families. The Disney movie won two Oscars and has grossed more than $968 million worldwide.

The animated version was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, with a voice cast that included Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin.

In September 2016, it was announced that Disney is doing a CGI remake of the film with Jon Favreau set to direct. The cast of ...

Paramount is moving forward with the long-gestating sequel Coming to America 2, setting a new director and writer. Jonathan Levine (Snatched) has come aboard to direct this Coming to America sequel, working from a script by Kenya Barris (Black-ish, Barbershop: The Next Cut). The project was first rumored earlier this year, but was eventually confirmed, and now it seems the studio is moving forward on this sequel.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on this sequel, which comes five months after original Coming to America writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield were brought on by Paramount to write the script. It isn't clear if Kenya Barris will be working from their draft, or if he will be doing a page-one rewrite and starting from scratch. Paramount hasn't set a release date or a production schedule yet, but with a new director and writer aboard, that may happen sooner rather than later.

The cast for Disney's live-action remake of The Lion King is rounding out quite nicely. With most of the core roles for director Jon Favreau's new take on the beloved classic in place, a couple more very important pieces of the puzzle have just been locked down.Stars from Captain America: Civil War have joined the cast, as the wise baboon Rafiki and as Simba's mom, Sarabi enter the fray.

Starting with Rafiki, The Wrap is reporting that John Kani, who played Black Panther's father King T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War, will voice the baboon in this live-action version of The Lion King. Robert Guillaume voice the character in the original and is one of the most important supporting characters in the story. Rafiki is probably most remembered for his iconic moment holding up Simba to the crowd at Pride Rock in the beginning of the movie,...

Alfre Woodard, who played the corrupt Harlem politician Mariah Dillard in Netflix’s “Luke Cage,” will play Simba’s mother, Sarabi, in the upcoming “Lion King” remake. She takes over a role played in the original 1994 animated film by Madge Sinclair. The news comes on the same day TheWrap exclusively reported that “Captain America: Civil War” actor John Kani will voice Rafiki, the wise Mandrill (a baboon-like species of primate) who teaches important life lessons to main character Simba. Woodard joins a cast that also includes Donald Glover as Simba, John Oliver as Zazu, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as...

The pride's all here!

Alfre Woodard is the latest to join Jon Favreau's The Lion King, voicing Sarabi, Simba's mom. Woodard joins Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones, who will be reprising his role as Mufasa. Madge Sinclair voiced Sarabi in the original 1994 Disney animated version.

Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner and John Oliver will also voice parts in the feature, which recently added Chiwetel Ejiofor to its roster to play the villain, Scar.

Jeff Nathanson (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) wrote the script for Disney, with Favreau and Jeffrey Silver producing. Lion King is currently shooting in Los Angeles.

...

John Oliver, the host of HBO's popular weekly series Last Week Tonight, has become the latest to join the talented voice cast for Disney's live-action Lion King reboot. The actor will be lending his voice to Zazu, the colorful bird who serves as an adviser to King Mufasa (James Earl Jones). In the original 1994 animated classic, Zazu was voiced by Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson, with Jeff Bennett voicing the character in the new animated series The Lion Guard.

The Wrap broke the news of this casting, which comes just a few months after Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner signed on to voice Pumbaa and Timon, respectively. Director Jon Favreau will utilize the same type of technology that brought the photo-realistic animals to life in the filmmaker's 2016 blockbuster The Jungle Book. John Oliver also joins Donald Glover as Simba and the iconic James Earl Jones, reprising his voice role as...

Riding high after the successful sequel Beverly Hills Cop II, Eddie Murphy returned to pure comedy, reteaming with director John Landis (Trading Places) to make Coming to America. Murphy played a pampered African prince who decides to travel to America to find a bride. Released in the summer of 1988, it was an instant smash, spending three weeks as the top-earning movie at the box office. Ultimately, it made more than $288 million worldwide. What made the comedy so funny? For one thing, Murphy was teamed up with Arsenio Hall as his best friend and personal aide; both actors played multiple roles. They were surrounded by a wonderful cast that included James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair and John Amos. Cuba Gooding Jr. made his big-screen debut and Samuel L. Jackson stood out...

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Last month, a new report surfaced that comedy legend Eddie Murphy has been secretly writing the screenplay for Coming to America 2, a follow-up to his 1988 classic which he both starred in and received a story credit for. The news regarding this sequel was never confirmed, but first surfaced after Eddie Murphy's verified Twitter account sent out a tweet about a Coming to America sequel, which lead to the actor's entire account being deleted. Today we have confirmation that the sequel is actually happening, with original Coming to America writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield writing the script.

The news first surfaced after Eddie Murphy's Twitter account posted a cryptic tweet that only read, "Coming to America sequel?" along with a photo of the Princess Imani character played by Vanessa Bell Calloway. After the actor's account was deleted, a report surfaced that claimed Coming to America 2 is in fact in the works,...

Fans who followed comedy superstar Eddie Murphy on Twitter were treated to quite the surprise on Wednesday night, when the actor's verified Twitter account posted the cryptic tweet "Coming to America sequel?" along with a photo of Vanessa Bell Calloway's character, Princess Imani. Not only was the tweet later deleted, but the actor's entire Twitter account was deactivated, sparking speculation that the actor may have been hacked. A new report reveals that Eddie Murphy didn't authorize that tweet, but he is actually working on the script for Coming to America 2.

TMZ reports that there are actually plans in place to make this sequel, and that there were plans to post something similar to that tweet, but it wasn't supposed to happen yet. The actor himself doesn't actually tweet, since he has a social media team to do that for him, and the deleted Coming to America 2 tweet wasn't authorized by him,...

A sequel to the 1988 romantic comedy “Coming to America” may be in the works. According to TMZ, sources close to Eddie Murphy confirm that the comedian is in the early writing stages of the project. On Wednesday night, a post on Murphy’s official Twitter account teased a potential sequel to his iconic film. “Coming to America sequel?” was all the post said, and included a picture of Vanessa Bell Calloway in character from the first film. Murphy’s Twitter account has since been deleted.

Read More: ‘T2 Trainspotting’ Review: Danny Boyle’s Surprisingly Fun Sequel Is a Drugged Out Trip Down Memory Lane

Calloway reacted to the possibility of Murphy working on a sequel. “I would love to do a sequel, I loved the movie. It’s like, ‘Come on Eddie, let’s make this happen!'” the actress told TMZ, but also wondered if Murphy’s account was hacked.

(This is the first in an occasional series in which I remember some of the best double features I’ve been lucky enough to see projected in a theater.)

The New Beverly Cinema, the oldest surviving revival theater in Los Angeles, has this week dished up a time-capsule glimpse into America’s popular obsession with Cb, or citizen’s band, radio and the largely mythological outlaw trucker culture through which it crackled. If you’re of a certain age (mine), and you ever cruised around town or down the highway jabbering to friends and strangers on an open channel frequency (I did—my handle was The Godfather!), given the opportunity I don’t see how you could possibly resist the chance to see the ultimate trucker-cb action-comedy pairing, Hal Needham’s Smokey and the Bandit and Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy. (I couldn’t!) As of this writing, the morning of...

Even as a new version of the classic mini-series is in the works, Warner Bros. is aiming to please fans by bringing the entire original series of Roots to the high definition format with a slew of bonus features. Come inside to learn more!

If you're a fan of the original Roots series, or weren't old enough to remember the iconic mini-series, then you're in luck. Today WB has announced a new blu-ray set to bring the entire series to blu-ray with loads of special features that dive into the heart of the story on June 7, 2016. All the details are below:

The groundbreaking, acclaimed television miniseries that captivated the entire nation and won multiple awards, Roots, will be released on Blu-ray™ for the first time, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) on June 7, 2016. The legendary family saga, which follows the inspiring story of Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton, Transformers: Rescue Bots,...

This year's Emmy nominees in major comedy categories include Anthony Anderson in "Blackish," Don Cheadle in "House of Lies," Andre Braugher in "Brooklyn Nine Nine," Tituss Burgess in "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Keegan-Michael Key in "Key & Peele," and Niecy Nash in "Getting On." If any three of them win, they will double the amount of black series cast members ever to win comedy Emmys.  Three black performers have won Emmys in lead and supporting comedy categories. The last African-American winner was Jackée (Harry) in 1987 for her supporting role as the saucy Sandra on "227." Before that, Robert Guillaume picked up a supporting actor Emmy for "Soap" in 1979 and a lead actor Emmy for its spinoff "Benson" in 1985. Isabel Sanford won for playing Louise "Weezy" Jefferson on "The Jeffersons" in 1981.  The guest actor comedy Emmys have a slightly better track record. Before Uzo Aduba picked up her guest actress trophy for "Orange is the New Black" last year,...

Viola Davis became just the second African American to win Best TV Drama Actress at the SAG Awards, claiming the prize Sunday for her starring role in "How to Get Away with Murder." The first to break through the color barrier was Chandra Wilson, a featured player on "Grey's Anatomy," who won this award in 2006. (SAG does not differentiate between lead and supporting on the TV side). -Break- However, Wilson was unable to parlay this victory into an Emmy, despite four consecutive bids in the Supporting Actress category. She lost in 2005 and 2006 to Blythe Danner ("Huff"), in 2007 to co-star Katherine Heigl and in 2008 to Dianne Wiest ("In Treatment"). While four African American women have won that Emmy race -- Gail Fisher ("Mannix," 1970); Alfre Woodard ("Hill Street Blues," 1983), Madge Sinclair ("Gabriel's Fire," 1991) and Mary Alice ("I'll Fly Away,&quo..."'...

★★★☆☆

Based on the popular song of the same name by C. W. McCall (yes, really), Hollywood hell-raiser Sam Peckinpah's Convoy (1978) gets an unexpected DVD and Blu-ray rerelease this week through StudioCanal, presumably opening up this kitsch cult truck-a-long to a slightly wider - and younger - demographic. Starring Kris Kristofferson as the ridiculously monikered Martin 'Rubber Duck' Penwald, Ali MacGraw as his 'girl', Melissa, and the late Ernest Borgnine as pantomime villain Sheriff Lyle 'Cottonmouth' Wallace, there's more than a dusting of camp kudos to this throwaway guilty pleasure.

As foreshadowed in McCall's seventies pop hit, Convoy follows an enormous, snaking congregation of dust-raising truckers as they heads for the State line following a diner brawl with the dastardly Sheriff Lyle and his posse of slimy cronies. Led by legendary road warrior 'Rubber Duck' (a particularly blue-eyed Kristofferson), this vast mobile army gather together in protest against local police corruption and trucker persecution,...

The Lion King

4–Disc Blu–ray/3D/DVD/Digital Combo

2-Disc Blu–ray/DVD Combo

Director: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

Starring: Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Madge Sinclair, Cheech Marin, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Guillaume, Moira Kelly, Jim Cummings, Niketa Calame

Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Release date: October 4, 2011

You can't really review The Lion King. It's one of the crown jewels of Disney's line of timeless hand–drawn animated classics, and my own personal favorite of the bunch.

It's jam–packed with a great cast of voice actors, gorgeous and vibrant environments, settings, and colors, and some of the most unforgettable songs any movie has ever had. Not to mention the wonderful story of a young lion cub who's tricked into leaving the lands he was to one day become king of after an incident involving his stoic father–king...

AOLMoviefone is celebrating the upcoming Blu-ray release of “The Lion King” as well as the film’s 17-year history with an article on 17 facts you may not know about the making of the beloved classic. Some things “Lion King” aficionados might already know, like the fact that the film wasn’t originally going to be a musical and was going to be more National Geographic in tone until lyricist Tim Rice suggested some songs and the addition of Elton John and that Mufasa and Sarabi’s voice actors, James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, acted together as royal parents in the Eddie Murphy classic comedy “Coming to America,” in which they played...

“There’s a line that goes through the Civil Rights movement, through Roots in 1970s, to Barack Obama being elected,” LeVar Burton notes as he and Roots co-stars Ben Vereen and Louis Gossett Jr. reminisce about their days playing Kunta Kinte, Chicken George, and Fiddler. Thirty-three years after the miniseries first appeared on ABC (85 percent of the population tuned in for at least part of it, with the finale drawing 100 million viewers), a lot has changed in the country and the culture. But, as Vereen points out in the embedded video below, filmed at EW’s Reunion 2010 shoot in Los Angeles earlier this month,...

There is a spirited debate in the forums about whether Angela Bassett of "ER" should put herself forward in the lead or supporting category at this year's Emmy Awards. The Oscar-nominated actress ("What's Love Got to Do With It") has joined the cast of the NBC medical drama as attending physician Cate Banfield for the final season of its 15-year run. Were she to get a lead nod and then win, Angela Bassett would make Emmy history as the first African American actress to prevail for a regular lead role on a drama series.

"ER" has won 22 of its record 122 Emmy nominations. However, only one of those Emmys went to a series regular — Julianna Margulies as supporting actress for the first season in 1995. And the last series regular to be nominated was Maura Tierney in that same category in 2001. But, as forum moderator Darrin "DoubleD" Dortch points out, "'ER's' buzz has skyrocketed.

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Shameful confession: watching this "I Love the 80s" edition of Coming to America marked the first time I'd ever seen the movie. Now I consider myself one who's seen more movies than 95% of the general public - but some films just slip me by. In this case I was definitely missing out. I'd always heard Coming to America was hilarious. I now agree. Wholeheartedly.

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall execute an entire 114 minutes of hilarity that makes you wish both of their careers hadn't derailed to their current positions.

Prince Akeem (Murphy), unwilling to accept the arranged marriage set up by King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) and Queen Aoleon (Madge Sinclair), takes his royal assistant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to New York to find the smart and strong-willed queen of a wife he desires. With 40 days to complete his objective he goes...