Ice Cube will write and star in a new instalment of the ‘Friday’ franchise.
Marking the first sequel in the series in over 20 years, the rapper and actor, 54, has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema to develop ‘Last Friday’, which will be the fourth film in the comedy series.
Richard Brener, president and chief creative officer of New Line, confirmed the deal in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, with Variety also verifying the news.
Ice Cube has long expressed interest in revisiting the ‘Friday’ series.
Speaking with Flavor Flav on his SiriusXM show ‘Flavor of the Week’ in June 2024, Ice Cube said there was “traction” at Warner Bros. for the film under the studio’s new leadership, including co-chair Michael De Luca.
He added: “They have new leadership: my man Mike De Luca, who used to be at New Line when I first started, when I first did the first ‘Friday’ and ‘Players Club’ and ‘All About the Benjamins’.
“Mike De Luca was there.”
Ice Cube starred in and co-wrote the original ‘Friday’, which came out in 1995, with DJ Pooh before going on to write the sequels ‘Next Friday’ (2000) and ‘Friday After Next’ (2002.)
All three films were produced by New Line, which was under Mr De Luca’s leadership during their production.
Warner Bros. later acquired New Line, securing the rights to the Friday franchise.
The ‘Friday’ series, which follows the misadventures of Craig Jones, played by Ice Cube, has become a cult classic.
Also starring Chris Tucker, the original movie in the series was a surprise hit, grossing more than $27 million on a reported $3.5 million budget.
While Chris did not return for the sequels, the franchise continued with new supporting characters, including Mike Epps as Day-Day.
Beyond ‘Friday’, Ice Cube has had a prolific film career.
He wrote and directed ‘The Players Club’, which came out in 1998, and starred in action films such as ‘xXx: State of the Union’ (2005) and comedies including ‘Are We There Yet?’, which was released the same year.
He has also worked as a producer on numerous projects, including the ‘Ride Along’ series with comic Kevin Hart.
