For those who have watched the sequel of the ‘Coming 2 America, they might be a bit familiar with the palace site of the fictional Kingdom of Zamunda. Apparently, that Zamundan royal palace belongs to record executive Rick Ross, his Atlanta, Georgia home.
The estate has 109 rooms, including 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, and a dining room that could host 100 guests. Also, it includes a 135-seat theater, 350,000-gallon pool, bowling alley, and a boxing gym.
The 45,000 square-foot mansion was acquired by Ross for a discounted price of $5.8 million. The property, originally owned by boxer Evander Holyfield, was built in 1994. However, Holyfield lost the home after failing to pay a $14 million debt in 2012.
According to the Daily Mail, the heavyweight champion sold the property to JP Morgan Chase at a public auction as part of foreclosure for $7.5 million, and eventually, Ross bought it at $5.8 million.
As business-minded as Ross is, he has put the property to use in such a way that it is paying for itself. “What you see outside my door is a gathering of film producers and directors who possibly want to rent the estate for another film,” Rick Ross said in an Instagram Live video in January.
“It’s not free to come check out the estate. Twenty people are wanting to see it today, every day. What we do is charge people to come look at it, and there’s still 18 people that want to come a day. So, welcome to the promised land,” he added.
In an interview with “Undisputed” host Shannon Sharpe for Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the rapper boasted of his negotiation skills that allow movie producers to shoot at his palace. He reveals having a movie producer pay $2.75 million to rent out his 109-room Atlanta mansion.
“A lot of times, I threw a number out there before, they moved a little slow and I went up on the number, and they met me there,” Ross disclosed.
According to Variety, much of ‘Coming 2 America’ production was recreated in Rick Ross’ mansion. Production designer Jefferson Sage said his team scouted a number of locations before settling on Ross estate.
He said: “Our big problem was, where do we find a house that had the scale of the possibilities for a very lavish palace?”
“That entrance foyer with the big two-story interior and double-winding staircase was perfect,” said Sage. “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.”
Sage said he and his team converted those key spaces for the film’s primary sets, including the king’s bedroom and the dining room.
