Ice Cube has been promising fans a fourth Friday movie. Now it looks like the project is finally moving forward.
This week Richard Brener, president and chief commercial officer of New Line, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss new projects at the studio.
In the interview published Wednesday, April 2, Brener expressed excitement about bringing the Friday franchise back.
“We are making another Friday. We just closed a deal with Ice Cube to write and star,” Brener said. “It’s going to be called Last Friday.”
Related: Ice Cube Explains Why Chris Tucker Turned Down ‘Next Friday’
That’s definitely good news for fans, although the Last Friday part has been out there for a while.
As Urban Hollywood 411 reported in 2022, Ice Cube said he’d written two scripts for Last Friday. But Warner Bros. Discovery, which purchased the rights to distribute the films and is home to New Line, rejected both scripts.
Cube said on the “Drink Champs” podcast that one script featured his character Craig and Day-Day (Mike Epps) going to jail for marijuana.
“After they rejected it, they had all these movies about going to jail. So I was like, ‘Man, see, y’all f— me up.’ The other script was about the youngsters in the hood having beef with the OGs, and Craig has to come back and squash that. Smokey’s [Chris Tucker’s] son is the new Deebo [Tommy Lister Jr.], and he’s wilding,” he explained.
Ice Cube co-wrote and produced the first film with DJ Pooh.
The original Friday was released in 1995, and starred Cube alongside Chris Tucker.
The comedy about unemployed slackers Craig and Smokey was directed by F. Gary Gray, and made $27 million at the box office on a reported $3 million budget.
It spawned the sequels Next Friday in 2000 and Friday After Next in 2002. Tucker left after the first film, and Mike Epps joined the franchise as Day-Day.
Nia Long, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Paula Jai Parker, Angela Means, John Witherspoon, Anna Maria Horsford, and Bernie Mac also starred. Terry Crews was later added to the franchise.
Bernie Mac, John Witherspoon, and Tommy “Tiny” Lister have all since passed away.
It sounds like Ice Cube wants to add a new generation of actors. Stay tuned.
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