Ice Cube recently appeared on Flavor Flav’s SiriusXM show “Flavor of the Week” and shared exciting news for fans of the “Friday” franchise. A fourth movie is finally in development. Ice Cube, who starred in and wrote the original three movies, revealed, “We’re working on it. We finally got some traction with Warner Bros.”
Ice Cube’s Take On New Leadership
The “Friday” franchise, which began in 1995, has been stuck in limbo for years. Ice Cube explained that new leadership at Warner Bros. has been pivotal in moving the project forward. “They have new leadership, my man Mike De Luca, who used to be at New Line when I first started,” he said. De Luca was involved in the original “Friday” films and other projects like “Players Club” and “All About the Benjamins.”
“So, now he’s running Warner Bros. And him and my man Michael Gruber was like, ‘Yo, what the fuck is going on with ‘Friday’? Man, let’s get this shit back online,’” Cube added. This renewed interest from Warner Bros. has given fans hope that the long-awaited sequel, tentatively titled “Last Friday,” will finally come to fruition.
Overcoming Past Challenges
The journey to “Friday 4” has been long and fraught with challenges. In 2022, Ice Cube made headlines for criticizing Warner Bros. for not giving him the rights to the franchise. On Mike Tyson’s “Hotboxin’” podcast, he expressed his frustration, saying, “I don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know what they’re doing. We’d love to have it back.”
Ice Cube was adamant about not paying for the rights, asserting, “I ain’t putting shit up for it. Fuck no. They need to give it to me, and they’re going to make money.” He emphasized the potential profitability of the sequel and the importance of making fans happy.
“We can do a lot with it,” he said. “They need to do the right thing, get it to us, let us turn it into more money, and make the fans happy.”
Honoring the Legacy
The delay in making the fourth film has not been without its toll. Key cast members like John Witherspoon, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr., and Anthony ‘AJ’ Johnson have passed away. Reflecting on these losses, Ice Cube told Flavor Flav, “John Witherspoon passed away, [Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr.] passed away, [Anthony ‘AJ’ Johnson] passed away. I’m like, ‘Man, we keep losing people, and y’all keep dicking around.’”
Despite the setbacks, Ice Cube remains committed to doing justice to the beloved series. “They wanna do it, but the key is, it’s got to be done right or we shouldn’t fuck with it,” he stated. With Warner Bros. finally coming to their senses, as Cube puts it, fans can look forward to the possibility of seeing “Last Friday” on the big screen.