50 free Coming to America trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free Coming to America trivia questions with answers. Coming to America opened in June 1988 to sniffy reviews and became one of the biggest comedies of the decade, then spent thirty years being quoted in barbershops before Coming 2 America finally arrived on Prime Video. This quiz covers both films: Prince Akeem's forty days in Queens, McDowell's and its legally distinct golden arches, Soul Glo, Sexual Chocolate, the Duke brothers turning up homeless, and the many faces of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall under Rick Baker's makeup. The questions run from easy plot points to the production stories: what Paramount insisted on in the casting, why Murphy and John Landis fell out, the humourist who sued and won, the Oscar nominations, the Nile Rodgers jingle, and the failed CBS sitcom pilot. The sequel round covers General Izzi, Lavelle, the Atlanta shoot in a rapper's mansion, and James Earl Jones's final film role. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the two films and carries its source. Play it before a rewatch or use it as a round at movie night; the difficulty scores tell you which ones are the gimmes.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed Coming to America, reuniting with Eddie Murphy five years after their first film together?
John Landis
The two fell out badly on set, yet worked together again six years later on Beverly Hills Cop III.
Q 02Prince Akeem decides to find his own bride on which birthday?
His 21st
The trigger is meeting Imani, the arranged bride who has been trained since birth to obey his every word.
Q 03How many days does King Jaffe give Akeem to 'sow his wild oats' before the wedding?
40
The compromise comes only after Akeem has made Imani bark like a dog and hop on one foot to prove she has no will of her own.
Q 04In which New York borough do Akeem and Semmi go looking for a queen?
Queens
The logic is impeccable: where else would you find a queen? They rent a squalid tenement in Jackson Heights.
Q 05Lisa's boyfriend Darryl Jenks is heir to which hair-care fortune?
Soul Glo
The greasy product leaves a stain on every sofa in the film, and its jingle was written by Chic's Nile Rodgers, who calls it his proudest moment.
Q 06Eddie Murphy's soul singer Randy Watson fronts which band at the neighbourhood rally?
Sexual Chocolate
The band returned to close the 2021 sequel with a rendition of 'We Are Family', with Watson's cousin Reem on stage.
Q 07Besides Semmi, which of these characters is played by Arsenio Hall?
Reverend Brown
Hall's other faces include Morris the barber and the Extremely Ugly Girl at the club; Saul and Clarence belong to Murphy.
Q 08Who plays King Jaffe Joffer?
James Earl Jones
He returned for the 2021 sequel, which turned out to be his final film role before his death in September 2024.
Q 09Which actress plays Queen Aoleon, and would later voice Sarabi in The Lion King?
Madge Sinclair
Her pairing with the actor who plays King Jaffe was repeated when the two voiced Mufasa and Sarabi in 1994.
Q 10Who plays Cleo McDowell, Lisa's father and Akeem's boss?
John Amos
The Good Times patriarch also came back for the sequel, McDowell's having by then opened a franchise in Zamunda.
Q 11Who plays Lisa McDowell?
Shari Headley
The other three are also in the film: as the arranged bride Imani, as Lisa's sister Patrice, and as one of the royal rose bearers.
Q 12Which future ER star plays Lisa's obnoxious boyfriend Darryl?
Eriq La Salle
He was Dr. Peter Benton on ER for eight seasons starting in 1994.
Q 13According to Arsenio Hall, why did Louie Anderson end up playing McDowell's employee Maurice?
Paramount insisted on a white actor
The studio supplied a list of three white performers; Murphy and Hall picked the one they knew and liked.
Q 21Which humourist sued Paramount in 1990, saying the film came from his 1982 treatment about an African potentate?
Art Buchwald
He won the breach-of-contract case, and Buchwald v. Paramount became the textbook example of Hollywood 'net profit' accounting.
Q 22Akeem tells Lisa's family that he comes from a family of what?
Poor goat herders
The lie holds until his parents and their entourage descend on the McDowell house.
Q 23Where does Akeem finally catch up with Lisa to explain himself and propose?
On a subway car
Q 14Which future star plays the McDowell's robber stopped by Akeem's mop handle?
Samuel L. Jackson
The character had reportedly hit the restaurant five times before running into a prince trained in the martial arts.
Q 15Which future Oscar winner made his film debut as a boy getting a haircut in the barbershop?
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson also debuted in the film, as a street hustler.
Q 16The homeless men Akeem hands cash to are Mortimer and Randolph Duke, from which film?
Trading Places
Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy reprised the roles, and a snatch of that film's score plays as they mistake Akeem for Billy Ray Valentine.
Q 17Which South African choir sings 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' over the opening sequence?
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
The version heard in the film has never been released on the soundtrack or on CD.
Q 18Eddie Murphy's personal salary for the film was reportedly how much, plus 15% of rentals?
$8 million
The director got $600,000 plus 10% of the gross, on a film that earned close to $290 million worldwide.
Q 19The director's trademark in-joke 'See You Next Wednesday' appears in the film as what?
A subway poster for a sci-fi movie
It is in the subway station where Lisa storms off the train after learning who Akeem really is.
Q 20Coming to America received two Academy Award nominations, one for costume design and one for what?
Makeup
Rick Baker's makeup turned Murphy and Hall into a Jewish pensioner, a soul singer, a barber and a woman nobody wanted to dance with.
She refuses and hands back the jewelled earrings he had secretly given her.
Q 24The film opened in the US on which date in 1988?
June 29
It debuted at number one and finished as the year's third-highest-grossing film in America.
Q 25Roughly what was the film's production budget?
$36 million
Worldwide takings were reported at anything from $289 million to $350 million.
Q 26The unsold 1989 sitcom pilot based on the film starred which In Living Color comedian as Prince Tariq?
Tommy Davidson
CBS burned it off in its Summer Playhouse anthology on July 4, 1989, with Paul Bates back as the servant Oha.
Q 27Which group performed the film's promotional title song 'Coming to America'?
The System
The soundtrack also had Mel and Kim's UK top-ten hit 'That's the Way It Is' and a Laura Branigan duet.
Q 28In 2022 Paramount took legal action against a company for doing what?
Opening pop-up McDowell's restaurants
The pop-ups had operated in Springfield, Virginia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey; the case went to the new Copyright Claims Board.
Q 29Siskel and Ebert gave the film 'two thumbs down'. What did Murphy say about that in 2016?
He had not read a review in over 20 years
He noted the same pair later called it 'the classic Coming to America' in a retrospective.
Q 30Which grade did audiences polled by CinemaScore give the film?
A
Critics were far cooler: Metacritic's score is 47, and the New York Times said the script had escaped before it was ready.