Friday (franchise)

The film takes a look at one single Friday in the life of two friends, Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), in South Central LA. Craig has recently been fired from his job while attempting to collect his wages, as he was allegedly caught on camera stealing cardboard boxes from UPS, although he claims innocence. Throughout the day, friends and local neighborhood characters pass through, including the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo (Tommy Lister, Jr.). The film's subplot focuses on drug dealer Big Worm (Faizon Love), who warns Craig and Smokey to collect $200 worth of marijuana they smoked (which was supposed to be sold) no later than 10:00 that evening, or Craig and Smokey will be killed.

In the end, Craig manages to overcome all of the day's tribulations, save for finding employment; he and Smokey are able to pay Big Worm, he confronts Deebo and successfully beats him after all of his bullying to everyone else, and he and his pretty neighbor Debbie (Nia Long) hook up.

Next Friday is a 2000 stoner comedy film, and the sequel to the 1995 film Friday. This is the first film to be produced by producer Ice Cube's film production company Cube Vision. The film is directed by Steve Carr, and stars Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Don "D.C." Curry, John Witherspoon, and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.

In the sequel, Deebo has sworn revenge against Craig for beating him up and putting him in jail for four years. He is joined by his little brother, Tyrone (Sticky Fingaz), whom he escaped jail with. Craig's father, Willie decides to send him up to Rancho Cucamonga and live with his uncle's family until Deebo is back in jail. It's there, he learns about the financial problems that Day-Day and his father, Elroy, face. He is also informed by their Korean neighbor, Mrs. Ho-Kim (Amy Hill) with the problems of Karla's older brothers: Joker (Jacob Vargas), Lil' Joker (Lobo Sebastian) and Baby Joker (Rolando Molina). When Craig learns about the drug money hidden in a pipe kept in Joker's room, Craig conspires with Day-Day and Roach to steal it so they can use the money to pay off the debts.

At 3:37am on Christmas Eve, Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) are robbed by a fake Santa Claus (Rickey Smiley) as he stole their presents, Craig's CD collection, Day-Day's baby pictures and a big sandwich. Craig and Day-Day get jobs as rent-a-cops in a strip mall where Willie (John Witherspoon) and Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry) opened up a rib joint, called "Bros. BBQ". They owe rent to their apartment building's manager, Ms. Pearly (BeBe Drake) who threatens the two with the attentions of her burly gay son, Damon Pearly (Terry Crews). Craig is in love with Donna, the girlfriend of a pimp named Money Mike (Katt Williams) who treats her poorly and Craig and Day-Day throw a rent party to get the money for Ms. Pearly.

According to John Witherspoon, the fourth installment of the series has been greenlit as of April 2017.[2] DJ Pooh reveals in an interview on Drink Champs that he's working on Last Friday with Ice Cube.[3] As of April 2018, Ice Cube stated "Right now we're still writing the movie, making sure that's ahead of the curve and not behind the curve. But I believe we'll start shooting, hopefully by the end of this year."[4] In May 2018, Mike Epps posted a video and image on Instagram with Ice Cube, teasing fans, and they assumed that the film is in production.[5] However, the footage was for the Friday film inspired Big 3 season 2 commercial, and it teased what Last Friday would look like.

On April 29, 2019, Ice Cube stated that the script has been completed, and hopes for it to be released on the 25th anniversary of the original film, which was in 2020. "We are pushing for it, we finished the script, we are getting notes from the studio and it's going back and forth," Cube said. "Get into pre-production and start hiring. It would be nice for this to come out on the 25th anniversary."[6] On June 21, 2019, Ice Cube stated that the movie is coming and he's currently doing a rewrite with DJ Pooh.[7] Four months later, on October 29, 2019, John Witherspoon died, which leaves the fate of his character unknown.[8] On November 14, 2019, Ice Cube blamed New Line Cinema for not committing to getting the film made while Witherspoon was alive.[9] Ever since Witherspoon's death, Ice Cube stated that the film was currently on hold although he hopes to get it back on track in the near future.[10]

On December 19, 2020, in the wake of Tommy Lister Jr.'s death, Angela Means claimed on a podcast that the project was cancelled. Similar to Ice Cube, she too blamed New Line Cinema for not devoting themselves to the film's production stating "You let our legends die".[11] A day later, on December 20, Clifton Powell expressed hope that the film would still be in production and that it will include a tribute to John Witherspoon and Tommy Lister Jr.[12]

On May 7, 2021, Ice Cube opened up about two potential scripts he had written for the film. The first one would have focused on Craig and Day-Day trying to survive in prison after having their Cannabis Dispensary stolen by a Flash mob. They both would have then found themselves in a Rehabilitation hospital run by Smokey. Cube did not give any precise details on the second script, although, he stated it would have focused around a love story.[13]