Jam-packed with nostalgic cameos and set to a soundtrack fit for royalty, Coming 2 America ticked all the boxes for an incredible movie sequel. Aside from all the gorgeous natural hairstyles and beautiful African-inspired outfits, we couldn’t take our eyes off of Zamunda Palace and all its opulent glory. The castle is actually rapper Rick Ross’s real-life home, according to Variety, and at 45,000 square feet, we’re not surprised the film staff thought to use it as the onscreen mansion.
“Our big problem was, where do we find a house that had the scale of the possibilities for a very lavish palace?” production designer Jefferson Sage said. After scouting several locations, Sage and his team settled on the 12-bedroom house, which was previously owned by boxer Evander Holyfield. The two-story Fayetville, GA, mansion has a dining room that seats up to 100 people and sits on 235 acres of land, which fans of Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” might know inspired the lyric “Ross sittin’ on 235 acres.”
“We went to great lengths to find as much as we could, and we got just about everything.”
“That entrance foyer with the big two-story interior and double-winding staircase was perfect,” Sage said. “Off of that, there were two beautiful big rooms with giant windows and 18-foot ceilings. We used five key spaces that we turned into Zamunda.” The design team then took the “bones of the original” Coming to America set and upgraded them to create the lavish look we see in the film.
Ross’s home was transformed with silver and gold-leaf trim along the ceilings, new wallpaper, and a temporary throne room and ballroom. The crew even tracked down props to re-create the original My-T-Sharp barbershop. “We went to great lengths to find as much as we could, and we got just about everything,” Sage said. “The sense of going back to that set is a tie-in to the original and brings the two movies together.”
Keep reading to see more peeks inside Rick Ross’s stunning mansion, and if you haven’t seen the film yet, check out the Coming 2 America trailer here and see the full movie on Amazon Prime Video.
