Ice Cube wants the rights to the Friday franchise from Warner Bros. After his successful role in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood, Ice Cube began acting, co-writing 1995’s Friday as a feature for him to star in. Friday was a simple film, seeing two friends struggle to come up with $200 over the course of a single day, hoping to pay off a neighborhood bully. The film was successful, spawning two sequels before the franchise went quiet after 2002’s Friday After Next. However, Ice Cube wants to bring it back.
While speaking on Mike Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast (via Variety), Ice Cube didn’t hold back on his feelings about Warner Bros. and the rights to the Friday franchise. Cube seems frustrated by the issues surrounding the rights to the films, as he wants to make a fourth movie, but the studio is dragging its feet. He also flat-out refuses to pay them for the rights, saying, “that’s stupid.” However, one thing is clear; Ice Cube is dead set on getting a fourth movie produced. Check out Ice Cube’s comments on the rights to Friday below:
“I don’t know. Warner Brothers is weird right now. I don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know what they’re doing. We’d love to have it back. I think it’s going be close to a time when we get it back. So, we’ll either wait for that time, or we’ll keep trying to convince them that they need to let us control the movie. It’s my movie, but they have distribution control.”
“I ain’t putting s— up for it. F— no. They need to give it to me, and they’re going to make money. I’m not about to pay for my own stuff, that’s stupid. They need to do the right thing, get it to us, let us turn it into more money, and make the fans happy…We can do a lot with it.”
Will A Fourth Friday Film Ever Get Made
The Friday franchise kicked off with a bang, as the first film was well received, becoming a classic film for many viewers while easily recouping more than its small budget at the box office. The sequels, 2000’s Next Friday and 2002’s Friday After Next, missed with critics. However, the audience response was wildly different, with each movie being loved by franchise fans. And while Friday After Next saw a dip in box office returns, fans have been hoping for a fourth film ever since. In 2007, there was the short-lived Friday: The Animated Series, with only eight episodes produced and the IP essentially going dormant thereafter.
Cube has already talked about a fourth Friday film, which is said to be called Last Friday. Scripts for the movie have also been written, with the studio and Ice Cube not seeing eye to eye on things, leaving the franchise on the back burner. Still, Cube is enthusiastic about making Last Friday happen, hoping that Warner Bros. relinquishes the rights. However, given Cube’s comments, it seems as though Warner Bros. may lose the rights soon, likely due to reaching the end of a predetermined period of ownership. If and when that happens, the fourth film will have a better outlook.
Currently, a fourth Friday movie seems not to be happening. However, if Ice Cube gets the rights, he seems ready to personally champion the film to the screen. So Last Friday is still possible, with audiences likely having to wait for the rights issues to be resolved, meaning another Friday sequel will happen later rather than sooner.