The Prince from Zamunda 2
Eddie Murphy is a fan of "comedian" Wesley Snipes
Eddie Murphy is a big fan of "comedian" Wesley Snipes (r.)
© Shutterstock.com / Kathy Hutchins
"The Prince of Zamunda" star Eddie Murphy raves about Wesley Snipes' comedian skills. The action hero plays in the cult film sequel.
"The Prince from Zamunda 2" will be released in a few days. In addition to main actor Eddie Murphy (59), action film star Wesley Snipes (58, "Blade") will also be seen in the sequel to the cult comedy from 1988. "I knew even before 'Dolemite Is My Name' (2019) that Wesley Snipes was a real comedian," Murphy told Al Roker in an interview with TODAY.
"Before Wesley Snipes became a big action hero, he did a lot of different things," he continues. "'White boys can't do it' (1992) – very funny, 'To Wong Foo' (1995) – very funny", he gives further examples. "I knew from the start that he was funny."
"Nobody dresses up as Det. Axel Foley"
Even for leading actor Eddie Murphy, it wasn't difficult to slip into the same role again 33 years after the original. "Because it's kind of a cult movie that still plays a lot on TV, it was still very present on me," Murphy said. The fact that "The Prince from Zamunda" (1988) is a cult film can be seen from the fact that people dress up like that on Halloween – "Nobody dresses up as Det. Axel Foley," says Murphy with a laugh about his role in the film very popular "Beverly Hills Cop" film series.
The second is to build on the great success of the first part. We worked hard for that. "We worked on the script for four years," says Murphy. "As in the original film, the sequel will also be about general topics: love, family, tradition, doing the right thing, woman power … It is precisely these universal topics that are the reason for the worldwide success back then," he explains.
All-Black-Cast wrote film history
But it's not just the themes that make the original so original. "'The Prince of Zamunda' is the first film in history to have an all-black cast that has achieved worldwide success," said Murphy. In fact, US comedian Louie Anderson (67) is the only exception as an employee in a fast food restaurant – and there is a reason: "He is on the cast because the studio said: We have to have a white actor in the film" the New York actor recalls.
"The Prince of Zamunda 2" will be released on March 5, 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.