SHORT TAKES : Buchwald’s Suit Coming to Trial

Trial was scheduled to get under way today in a $5-million lawsuit filed by humorist Art Buchwald against Paramount Pictures over the film “Coming to America.”

According to the lawsuit filed in November, 1988, the motion picture was inspired by and based upon a movie treatment written by Buchwald.

The Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and author claims he created the concept in 1983 about a handsome, wealthy and spoiled young African king who comes to the United States.

The columnist claims the story line called for the king to lose his title and money to his brother in a coup, forcing him to live in an American ghetto and work in a fast-food restaurant. During his stay, he falls in love with a beautiful woman and makes her his queen when he is reinstated as the monarch of his country.

But actor Eddie Murphy, who starred in the movie, has said he came up with the idea for “Coming to America,” which grossed more than $128 million in 1988. The film is about an African prince named Akeem who comes to New York, lives in a slum, gets a job at a fast-food restaurant, meets the woman of his dreams and returns to his country, where he marries the woman.