Ice Cube has said he’s working to bring a fourth Friday movie to the screen.
But comedian Kym Whitley, who played “Auntie Suga” in Next Friday is doubtful the film will ever happen because so many years have passed, and so many of the actors have passed away.
Whitley recently sat down with producer and radio host Junior Lledo on his “The Late Show With Lledo” podcast and discussed the franchise.
In a clip posted to X by The Art of Dialogue on Saturday, Lledo asked Whitley if she thinks the final Friday movie, which co-creator Ice Cube has said would be titled Last Friday, will ever happen.
“No, everybody done died,” she said. “Too many people, major people have passed away. I think Cube has moved on to other things. I talked to Cube, he tried to do it.”
Related: New ‘Friday’ Movie Finally Moving Forward, Studio Boss Says
The original Friday was released in 1995, and starred Ice Cube alongside Chris Tucker as unemployed slackers Craig and Smokey in South Central Los Angeles. It was followed by Next Friday in 2000 and Friday After Next in 2002.
Asked if she would be willing to return for the fourth film, Whitley responded “absolutely,” before explaining why she wasn’t in the second sequel.
“You can’t have the movie without Suga,” she said. “The second one didn’t have me because I was filming Deliver Us From Eva (2003), another movie, so that’s what happened.”
The actress and comedian said Lionsgate should have made the fourth film “ten years ago.” Actually, New Line Cinema, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., owns the rights to distribute Friday films.
In April 2025, Richard Brener, head of New Line told The Hollywood Reporter the studio had just finalized a deal with Ice Cube to write and star in Last Friday. Brener did not elaborate on when production might start.
The first movie was profitable for the studio after making $28 million at the worldwide box office on a reported $3 million budget.
Ice Cube co-wrote the script with DJ Pooh, and F. Gary Gray directed the slacker comedy.
In addition to Cube and Chris Tucker, the cast included Nia Long, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Paula Jai Parker, Angela Means, John Witherspoon, Anna Maria Horsford, Regina King, Faizon Love, Tony Cox, and Bernie Mac.
Bernie Mac, John Witherspoon, and Tommy “Tiny” Lister have all since passed away.
Tucker opted not to return after the first movie. In a 2021 tweet, Ice Cube shot down claims that Tucker declined returning to the franchise over money.
“We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons. He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore,” Cube wrote in response to a fan on the platform.
Mike Epps joined the franchise as Day-Day on the second film.
In a 2022 interview on Drink Champs, Ice Cube said he’d written two scripts for Last Friday. But Warner Bros., which purchased the rights to release the films, rejected both versions of his scripts.
Cube revealed one script featured his character Craig and Day-Day going to jail for marijuana.
He said the second script was about young people in the ‘hood beefing with the OGs, and Craig returns to squash the beef. He said a new generation of characters would include Smokey’s [Tucker’s] son as the new Deebo [Tommy Lister Jr.], and he’s wilding.”
Urban Hollywood 411 reached out to a rep for Ice Cube for an update on Last Friday, but we have not heard back.
You can listen to the full interview with Kym Whitley here. She talks about the Friday franchise at the 3:00 mark.
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