Ice Cube is optimistic that the “Last Friday” film is finally coming to fruition after years of battling Warner Bros. Entertainment.
But for some fans, the rapper’s political choices have tainted their enthusiasm about heading to theaters to support the movie if it does, in fact, make it out of development.
“We working on it, we working on it,” Cube told Flavor Flav on the SiriusXM show “Flavor of the Week.” He explained that the project has gained “traction” now that Warner Bros. Entertainment has placed former New Line Cinema executive Mike De Luca over its films.
“My man Mike De Luca, 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 De Luca was there. So now he’s running Warner Bros., him and my man Michael Gruber are like, ‘Yo, what the f—k is going on with ‘Friday’? Man, let’s get this s—t back online,’” he added.
The “Today Was a Good Day” emcee has long claimed that he wrote two scripts for the fourth installment of the franchise. However, when development stalled, he had no way of moving forward because Warner owns distribution of his films.
But with new leadership in place, Cube may have a new experience. “I was a little hot because they had took so long,” he said, noting that the franchise’s stars like John Witherspoon, who played Pops, Tommy Lister Jr., who played Deebo, and AJ Johnson, who portrayed Ezal, have all passed away.
Pops dead.
— Free the GOAT (@HeyKenyaBoo) June 24, 2024
Deebo dead.
Ezal dead.
Red daddy dead.
Likeeeeeee….its been too long, do we really want it?? https://t.co/i16JTboNSE
Witherspoon, 77, succumbed to a heart attack in 2019, Lister, 62, died of heart disease-related complications in 2020, and Johnson, 55, from organ failure caused by chronic alcohol consumption in 2021.
“We keep losing people, and y’all keep d—king around not doing the movie the way it need to be done. They wanna do it, but the key is it gotta be done right, Flav, or we shouldn’t f—k with it,” said the rapper-turned-actor
Though Cube said that the studio finally “came to their senses,” not all of his fans feel the same about him. A tweet expressing disinterest read, “No thanks, maybe the MAGA crowd can go see his movies because that’s who he’s down with now. I won’t support him!”
Another X user who was vexed by Cube’s past openness to working with former President Donald Trump wrote, “So, do we want to see it? Ice Cube being cozy with the Trump Administration is a meh.”
Cube never endorsed the impeached President, but he did present his Contract With Black America, a plan to address racial inequality, to the Trump campaign in 2020. The campaign responded by promoting its Platinum Plan to entice Black voters to support Trump’s re-election.
According to the Trump campaign, Cube provided input for their plan to impose initiatives that would uplift the Black community.
The West Coast rap legend faced harsh criticism for his political alignment. “Every side is the Darkside for us here in America,” he tweeted in defense of his controversial decision. “They’re all the same until something changes for us. They all lie, and they all cheat, but we can’t afford to negotiate.”
A third critic reacting to the latest “Last Friday’ update commented, “Is he going to write a role for his new buddy Tucker Carlson?” The transgression in question occurred in 2023.
Cube and former Fox News correspondent Tucker Carlson discovered that they shared similar stances on a variety of topics as they rode around South Central L.A., the former N.W.A. group member’s hometown.
The “Ride Along” star was called a sellout and accused of allowing himself to be used to promote conservatives’ political agendas. The hip-hop veteran, however, has been steadfast in declaring himself a free thinker who has not been welcomed onto a number of well-known platforms.
I told you Ice Cube is a right winger. He had a conversation with the baddy bad people, cuz he's not good like us
— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) July 26, 2023
He can't sit at our lunch table until he obeys teacher and do what he's told, cuz we change the world by only talking to each other about being morally superior https://t.co/pRVXF1dwfx
Political stances aside, some social media users think that “Last Friday” finally has Warner’s support thanks to the success of “Bad Boys: Ride or Die.” One person joked, “They seen bad boys surpass 1 billion, and they said not on their watch.” Some think, at minimum, there should be seven movies in the “Friday” collection.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s buddy cop franchise had amassed more than $1 billion at the box office. The fourth installment raked in $227 million in the first four weeks following its June 7 debut. Directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah already have ideas for a fifth film, but Sony has not officially greenlit another sequel.
