Everything We Know About Last Friday So Far
For over 25 years, the "Friday" movies have been intricately woven into the fabric of pop culture. Known as the launchpad for Ice Cube's acting career, bits and gags from the original film are used today with many not even knowing where "Bye Felicia!" even comes from. And based on the amount of reboots and revivals out there today, you would think that another "Friday" sequel would be a no-brainer. So where is it?
Back in 2011, Cube and New Line Cinema announced that they were developing "Last Friday." Intended to be the last movie in the series after sequels "Next Friday" and "Friday After Next," the star/writer was even looking to bring Chris Tucker back into the fold in order to give Craig, Smokey, Day-Day, and the rest of the gang a proper send-off. Yet the project remains in limbo after all this time. Now as things continue to move at a snail's pace, here's everything that we know about "Last Friday" so far.
Ten Years Later
Since the final chapter of this cult favorite series was announced, there has been very little movement. Occasionally, Ice Cube will chime in during an interview or on Twitter to inform the public that he's still working on it. For example, the legendary rapper tweeted in 2016, "We had a meeting. Can't do 'Last Friday' unless we can do it right. Ball is in New Line Cinema's hands. Bat is in mine."
While appearing on Kevin Smith's "Smodcast" in early 2021, Cube shared that he used that bat to knock the script out of the park. Twice. But the studio kept sending back copious notes about why they wouldn't work.
"One they just wouldn't do because it was before cannabis was legal. Craig and Day-Day had a dispensary and they had a flash mob in there who stole all the sh*t. We ended up f***ing up some kids and going to jail. In jail, we see all the motherf***ers we put there... Our whole thing was trying to survive in jail with all these motherf***ers locked in with us. Then we get sent to rehab. I had the rehab run by Smokey and it's a f***in' scam. They're back there smoking all the dope they find on people."
Details on his second pass at the script aren't as readily available, but Cube thought it was absolutely perfect. He even gave it a chef's kiss when talking about it with Silent Bob. The studio disagreed though. They were apparently hung up on a love story element that wasn't even that prominent.
So it was back to the drawing board yet again. Unfortunately, this rewrite would have to take out a few notable characters.
Rest In Peace
On Oct. 29, 2019, John Witherspoon, who played a number of memorable roles including Willie Jones in the "Friday" series, died of a heart attack at 77 years old. Then, on Dec. 10, 2020, Tommy "Tiny" Lister died from coronary artery disease after battling COVID-19. Known to wrestling fans as Zeus and Z-Gangsta thanks to his battles against Hulk Hogan, Lister also portrayed the "Friday" franchise's neighborhood bully, Deebo.
Losing two prominent members of the "Friday" cast is a huge blow to fans and the filmmakers alike. Many were left extremely disappointed because New Line had plenty of time to greenlight the project before Witherspoon and Lister passed away. Now Ice Cube is forced to reimagine "Last Friday" without them. Understandably, it doesn't seem like he's ready to do so just yet.
Speaking to Mike Reyes of CinemaBlend while promoting "The High Note," Cube gave a passionate response when asked for an update on the long-gestating sequel.
"I haven't been able to write since John Witherspoon passed. It's just been very difficult to even pick up that project because I've been trying to get it made for over ten years now with two scripts and a bunch of dumb notes that, in the end, wouldn't have made much of a difference. So I'm just a little frustrated with the process. I would hope that New Line would do the right thing so that we can get the movie made for real. But I'm still fighting the good fight. There's still a movie to be made."
And he is still fighting to this day.
Ice Cube vs. New Line
The most recent update on "Last Friday" came from a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Over the summer, Ice Cube really stepped up his efforts to regain the rights to the "Friday" series from New Line (a Warner Bros. company), plus two other movies that he made at Warner Bros. — "All About the Benjamins" and "The Players Club." A letter from Cube's lawyer reportedly stated that the studio provided excessive notes in order to delay production. "We're right there at the finish line, and they don't pull the trigger," he said. The studio called these claims are "revisionist history" and that the delay is due to the star's "unwillingness to engage with the studio."
The report also notes that Ice Cube feels that there's a possibility of discrimination at play on the part of the studio. He feels that his work is "'habitually underfunded in comparison with projects featuring white casts and creative teams." Naturally, the studio dismissed these accusations by stating that they support diverse voice and storytellers, but the multi-hyphenate performer is determined to maintain this course of action and take "Next Friday" elsewhere: "I'm going to go somewhere else and make a hit and embarrass them."
Gotta Get Down On Friday
Since that WSJ report was released, there doesn't seem to be any updates on "Last Friday." It looked like Ice Cube had a number of projects lined up to fill his schedule while waiting for the fate of the "Friday" rights get sorted out. However, due to his recent refusal to get vaccinated in order to work on certain projects, his load might be lightening up very soon and he'll have more time to dedicate to this ongoing battle with New Line/WB. At this point, time will tell if cameras ever roll on this highly-anticipated sequel.