What is the iRankMovies score for Coming to America?

Name: Coming to America
Director: John Landis
Genre: comedy, romance
Released: 1988
Duration: 1 h 57 min
Rating: 7.1

Coming to America has an iRankMovies score of 65.9/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Coming to America (1988)

This summer, Prince Akeem discovers America.

Release:1988

Runtime:1h 57m

Country:United States

Director:John Landis

Language:English

Genre

ComedyRomance

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Keywords

New York CityFast Food RestaurantPrinceFake IdentityHeir To The ThroneRoyal FamilyFish Out Of WaterRich Man

iRank66

Coming to America rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.1/10· 238K votes

Rotten Tomatoes71%

Metacritic47%

TMDb6.88/10· 5K votes

With 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.1/10 on IMDb and 47/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been positive.

About Coming to America

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

Cast of Coming to America

Eddie Murphy
as Prince Akeem / Clarence / Randy Watson / Saul
Arsenio Hall
as Semmi / Extremely Ugly Girl / Morris / Reverend Brown
Shari Headley
as Lisa McDowell
John Amos
as Cleo McDowell
James Earl Jones
as King Jaffe Joffer
Madge Sinclair
as Queen Aoleon
Eriq La Salle
as Darryl Jenks
Allison Dean
as Patrice McDowell
Frankie Faison
as Landlord
Louie Anderson
as Maurice
Paul Bates
as Oha
Samuel L. Jackson
as Hold-Up Man

Coming to America facts

Budget: $30M
Box office: $288.8M
Collection: Coming to America Collection

Our take on Coming to America

John Landis's 1988 romantic comedy follows a pampered African prince who decides it is time to find a princess and, with his most loyal friend in tow, travels to Queens, New York in search of true love. Disguised as a penniless immigrant, he quickly acquires a menial job, new friends, unexpected enemies and no shortage of trouble as royalty collides with everyday city life. Warm and broadly funny, it mines its fish-out-of-water premise for both romance and gentle satire of class and courtship. It suits viewers after a good-natured, feel-good comedy with heart, memorable supporting characters and an old-fashioned belief that love should be earned, not arranged.

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•African royalty premise and absurd comedic energy drive entertainment value strongly
•Romantic comedy adventure blends amused tone with exhilarated character interactions consistently
•John Landis direction ensures consistent comedic pacing and physical comedy execution

What the audience disliked

•Fish-out-of-water premise occasionally relies on cultural humor rather dated by now
•Romantic subplot feels secondary to comedy spectacle despite narrative structure intent

Saga: Coming to America Collection