Where was 'Coming to America' filmed? Here is all you need to know about the film

The 1988 film Coming to America depicted the hilarious and dramatic adventures of a Prince who moves out of his palace to find a new sense of freedom. The actor Eddie Murphy plays the prince and is accompanied by Arsenio Hall on his journey to America. The film was primarily shot in major locations namely, New York, Los Angeles, California, according to Movie Location.

The Zamudan empire in the film is completely fictional and was created on set. The shooting of the palace and its interiors were built into a set and shot at Hollywood.

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Where was Coming to America filmed?

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The initial Coming to America filming locations

Later when Prince Akeem played by Eddie Murphy leaves for his freedom from his parents, he lands in New York. The shooting for this scene was actually done at the John F Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 7. The place had been operated by British Airways back then. Once the Prince has landed it is up to him and his minder played by Arsenio Hall to find a place to live and find a person to marry. Thus as a gag, the makers chose Queens to be the place where the Prince in the film goes looking for love, according to Movie Location.

The film continues and Prince Akeem orders the cab driver to take him to the most local part of Queens. He aspires to live undercover and thus follows this method. He then arrives at South 5th Street and Hooper Street. These places are not present in Queens; however, they were shot in Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

• Source: A Still from the film Coming to America

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Other Coming to America shooting locations

Once their journey into the common man’s life begins, Prince Akeem and his servant take up menial jobs. They work at a burger joint called the McDowell’s Burger restaurant. This place was in no way affiliated with McDonald's, however, it does play along with the name. The place where the characters work is actually Wendy’s joint. However according to the portal mentioned above, while filming, the Wendy’s joint was changed a bit to suit the narrative of the film.

Currently, however, a huge apartment complex has replaced the food joint and nothing related to the film can be spotted in that area. The rest of the places in the film include the Madison Square Garden, Empire Fulton Gerry Park, Waldorf Astoria Hotel. A number of Coming to America filming locations were real and thus a number of scenes within the film look authentic. The palace scenes along with a few others only remain to have been shot within a studio in Hollywood, according to the portal.

• Source: A Still from the film Coming to America

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