Ice Cube calls out Warner Bros. for refusing to make more ‘Friday’ sequels
The actor claims Warner Bros. “hi-jacked the happiness of the culture” by holding back the ‘Friday’ franchise.
Ice Cube’s plans for his Friday franchise are being restricted.
On Friday (Feb. 26), the “Boyz n the Hood” actor took to his Instagram account with hopes to address Warner Bros., who he accuses of holding back the creation of forthcoming Friday sequels.
“#freefriday from the jaws of Warner Bros. who refuses to make more sequels,” Cube wrote next to a cartoon of the movie’s popular characters. “They have hi-jacked the happiness of the culture.”
Friday was released in 1995 and went on to become one of the most quoted films in Black history. It was succeeded by Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next (2002). Cube announced Last Friday would be the fourth installment of the franchise, but completing it hasn’t been an easy feat.
In May 2019, the N.W.A. rapper was seemingly excited to announce he completed the script and announced that his desired release date was April 26, 2020. “We finished the script, we are getting notes from the studio, and it’s going back and forth,” he said at the time. “Get into pre-production and start hiring. It would be nice for this to come out on the 25th anniversary. That would be kinda…good.”
Unfortunately, when John Witherspoon — who played the role of Pops in the franchise — passed away, Cube was forced to switch things up. “Back to the drawing board since New Line Cinema was slow on green lighting the Last Friday script that was full of Mr. Jones,” he said. “I’ve been pissed off about it since Spoon passed away.”
It’s not clear what characters will appear in the forthcoming film, but Cube did say his character, Craig Jones, will potentially make a return. “If it comes together right, I’m definitely gonna look at it and see if it works,” he once told ESPN. “‘Cause I never say never; I definitely want to check it out. If it works, it’s a possibility.”