Coming 2 America is packed with references to the original. But here's
how Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were actually de-aged in two of the
scenes.
33 years later, Coming 2 America follows up the 1988 cult classic, and among other references to the original, has scenes where it actually de-ages Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. The original, Coming to America, was a massive hit after it was released, and has since nestled its way into pop culture. There was an array of funny and memorable scenes in the first film, but one of the best was the nightclub sequence, where Semmi spits out his drink after another version of himself in drag aggressively hits on him and Akeem.
In the sequel, there's a continuation of the original club scene. It's depicted via a flashback where the Zamundan prince realizes that he has a long-lost son back in the United States. But this sequence does more than just set up Coming 2 America's premise and reference the '88 original: in the club and in the apartment, both Akeem and Semmi appear de-aged. In real life, Murphy is 59 and Hall is 65, but they appear eerily similar to how they looked 33 years ago — thanks to CGI effects.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Murphy explained where he got the idea: "I was watching one of those movies with Schwarzenegger [2015's Terminator Genisys]. And they used a special effect, but it made him really young. And I was like, 'We could do a scene where we're young and we could connect it.'" It was an unexpected and fun idea, but the endeavor wasn't easy. When he spoke with Insider, director Craig Brewer said that "they [the team] spent a good month de-aging Arsenio for that scene.
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Of course, Murphy received the effects as well. Brewer also said, "When we were discussing 'how are we going to do this flashback sequence,' I had the idea that we should start it right at the moment when Arsenio does the spit gag opposite himself playing the woman. I wanted people to think, maybe this scene happened in the first movie but they just didn't use it." And the effects certainly looked the part, causing many viewers to do a confused double-take. But this de-aging technology isn't limited to films like Coming 2 America and Terminator Genisys; in fact, it's become an increasingly popular special effect in recent years.
Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (2019) saw the likes of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and other characters de-aged into "younger" versions of themselves. And other films, in 2019 especially (e.g. Avengers: Endgame, Gemini Man, etc.), utilized age-altering technology. Clearly, more and more projects are willing to splurge for intricate, time-defying special effects. But, even with this recent popularity, Coming 2 America is still breaking its own new ground. So far, the most notable movies that use de-aging or forward-aging have been more serious movies, infused with drama, crime, superheroes, and horror. Whereas in this cult classic sequel, the technology is used as a fun callback, one to make fans jump out of their seat in surprise. And the overall tone of the film itself is light and fun, continuing the original's legacy. Overall, the CGI de-aging scenes added to what the film had to offer and offered even more goofy nostalgia.
Now that age-altering is becoming commonplace and permeating different genres, the world of cinema is bound to keep seeing more and more of it, often in previously-out-of-place genres and scenarios. Visual effects supervisor Patrick David (from Rodeo FX in Montreal) captured the sentiment well when talking to CBC News, "It's the volume of work that's able to be done and the technology being more accessible to more companies. Maybe one company was able to do the de-aging kind of stuff back then [in the past], right now it's really something that's more accessible to a lot more filmmakers for different budgets." Likely, Coming 2 America won't be the last lighthearted comedy to make a splash with this technology that is no longer so elite and egregiously high-budget.
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