Ice Cube has always had a soft spot for Friday. He wrote the screenplay for the 1995 original, and has continued to shepherd the franchise through various sequels in the 2000s. He's struggled mightily to close out the franchise on his terms, however. Ice Cube has been pushing to get Last Friday made for over a decade. He's hyped up the film in interviews, and even teased the return of beloved characters. Thankfully, the red tape has been sifted through, and Last Friday appears to be underway.
Ice Cube broke the news during a recent interview with Sirius XM's Flavor of the Week. He told the host that he was able to work a deal out with Warner Bros. thanks to executive Michael De Luca. "They have new leadership," the rapper explained. "My man Mike DeLuca, 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 DeLuca was there, so now he’s running Warner Brothers." This is a complete turnaround from Ice Cube's earlier Warner Bros. comments. In 2021, he criticized the studio for hijacking the franchise and slowing progress.
Ice Cube Is Making The Film With Warner Bros.
The N.W.A. frontman told Flavor of the Week that he was frustrated over how long the process was going. To further add to the tension between Ice Cube and the studio, several Friday cast members died during the wait. "I was a little hot ’cause they had took so long. Because John Witherspoon passed away," he recalled. "Tiny passed away. A.J. Johnson passed away. Man, we keep losing people. And y’all keep d*cking around not doing the movie the way it need to be done." Ice Cube reiterated that De Luca was the man that revived Last Friday. "They want to do it. But the key is it gotta be done," he noted. "So, they finally came to their senses."
The thing are waiting to see is whether Chris Tucker will return as Smokey. The actor was a fan favorite in the original Friday, but he hasn't appeared in any of the sequels. In March, Tucker went on to V-103 and gave his thoughts on returning. He didn't rule it out, but he wants to make sure it's a quality script before he agrees to anything. "At this point," he explained. "I’m only doing stuff that I know that I could do my best. And I can have a lot of fun, got to be right." Hopefully Last Friday turns out right.