It’s been a long time since we last saw Ice Cube playing the role of Craig Jones in the Friday films, and we’ve since seen him in Torque, the xXx sequel, xXx 2: The Next Level, and will soon be seeing him in the 21 Jump Street adaptation alongside Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, as well as in the awesome corrupt cop drama, Rampart, opposite Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster (which I highly recommend you see when it gets is UK release, having caught it at this year’s London Film Festival).
News now comes via Collider that New Line are in talks with Cube to return to the Friday franchise for a fourth film, seeking him as writer, producer, and leading star of the new film, and potentially even as director too, which would be his first feature film as director since his debut back in 1998.
Along with being the star and producer, Cube also co-wrote the first Friday film and had sole scripting duties on Next Friday and Friday After Next, so it only seems right that the studio would look to him to craft this potential fourth film.
According to Deadline, Tucker – definitely a fan-favourite who starred in the first film as Smokey – is hesitant to reprise his role because of his religion, having a sense of regret for some of his past roles, like Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Cube wants Tucker for the part, and I’d love to see them both return together, so let’s hope that can be worked out.
This is still in early stages yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth process moving from talks to script to screen. Naturally, given the early days, the title’s still not been settled on, and fans will no doubt enjoy imagining the possibilities. Next Next Next Friday, for example, or Friday In Three Weeks’ Time (somehow I doubt either of those are candidates). If I had to guess, it might just be something simple and to the point, like Fourth Friday. Regardless, this definitely has me excited already, however early days it may be. I really like all the first three films, and am hoping we’ll get some good news on this soon, including the return of Mike Epps as Day-Day.
