Chris Tucker Blames ‘Last Friday’ Film Delay On Warner Bros. Studios
Ice Cube has previously said the lack of a fourth and final Friday film is due to the interference by movie studios, and now, Chris Tucker has seconded those claims.
On Thursday (March 14), Tucker spoke with V-103 Atlanta regarding the factors keeping the movie, tentatively titled Last Friday, from being filmed and released. “It’s studios, and if they got they got to want to do it, and then it’s producers and all that stuff. It’s a lot that goes with it,” the comedic legend said.
While it has been widely speculated as to why Tucker never reprised his role as Smokey following his appearance in the original Friday film, as the actor himself voiced his hesitance in making a return to the franchise. He now says he’d strongly consider doing so under the right circumstance.
Chris Tucker attends the “AIR” world premiere during the 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals at The Paramount Theater on March 18, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW
“I don’t know, it has to come back right because, like I said, at this point, you know, I’m only doing stuff that I know that I could do my best and I can have a lot of fun, got to be right,” the 52-year-old explained.
Ice Cube has expressed his frustration regarding Warner Bros.’ refusal to grant him full creative control over what would be the final film in the franchise. He revealed he has written two scripts that had been rejected by the studio.
“I’m trying to get it out of Warner Bros. because they don’t believe in the culture, man,” Cube said last year. “I had two scripts. I wrote one; it was the sh*t. They was like, ‘Yo, we don’t want Craig and Day-Day in jail, ’cause Craig and Day-Day went to jail for selling weed before it was legal.”
Ice Cube speaks during SiriusXM and Pandora Playback with Mount Westmore including E-40, Too Short & Ice Cube at SiriusXM Studios on December 07, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for SiriusXM
“Then after they rejected it, they had all these f**king movies about going to jail: Orange Is The New Black… Get Hard. So then I wrote another script, and the script was really about… the youngsters in the hood having beef with the OG’s in the hood and Craig has to come back and squash that because Smokey’s son is the new Deebo and he’s wylin!”
Cube also pointed to the deaths of actors John Witherspoon and Tiny Lister, both of whom appeared in the multiple Friday films with standout performances, amid the differences between himself and Warner Bros. resulting in missed opportunities to bring their characters’ storylines full circle.
“They tripped on it, man. They f**ked around and then John Witherspoon passed,” the N.W.A. member lamented. “Then, Deebo passed. They just f**ked it up.”
The first Friday film released in 1995 and starred Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tiny “Zeus” Lister Jr., John Witherspoon, Regina King, Faizon Love, and Anna Maria Horsford. In 2000, Next Friday was released, with Tucker being replaced by Mike Epps and Witherspoon, Lister, and Horsford reprising their roles.
The most recent film in the franchise, Friday After Next, followed in 2002, with actors Terry Crews and Katt Williams appearing in breakout roles.
See Chris Tucker’s V-103 Atlanta interview below.
