Ice Cube Felt Chris Tucker Would Be Outgrowing His Fans by Not Returning to the ‘Friday’ Films
Many have been anticipating comedian Chris Tucker’s return to the Friday franchise. Even his co-star Ice Cube once looked forward to Tucker coming back to his Friday roots years after they worked together. Which Cube felt Tucker should’ve done for the fans.
Ice Cube once shared why the last ‘Friday’ film was taking so long to release
The idea for another Friday film, which would’ve been called Last Friday, has been floating around the industry for years now. But the anticipated project has experienced several delays. This was in no small part due to the studio’s own reluctance to do another Friday movie. Developmental problems with the story didn’t help matters either. In an interview on Kevin Smith’s podcast Smodcast, Ice Cube explained he once had two scripts prepared for the film.
“One they just wouldn’t do because it was before cannabis was legal,” he explained. “Craig and Day Day had a dispensary and they had a flash mob in there who stole all the s***, and we ended up f****** up some kids and going to jail.”
But the idea of the story being primarily set in jail didn’t sit well with the studio behind the film.
“It was, to me, great for the time, but them motherf****** were like, ‘They spending too much time in jail. Jail’s not really funny.’ You know all this bulls***,” he said.
Ice Cube once advised Chris Tucker not to outgrow ‘Friday’ fans by turning down the sequel
Ice Cube may have been eager for Tucker to return to the franchise, but Tucker had his doubts about a Friday sequel. Aside from his own personal reasons, the Rush Hour star believed a Friday sequel wouldn’t be as special as the first.
“We’ll see what happens, but I doubt I’ll do another Friday,” Tucker once said on the Tom Joyner Morning Show (via Vibe).
Ice Cube, however, didn’t agree with Tucker’s comment that any potential Friday sequels were lacking in magic.
“Well, my magic is still here so the movie is going to get done,” Ice Cube once told the Huffington Post. “The movie is going to be funny, and it’s going to live up to all the long-anticipated wait. I would hope that he’ll be a part of it. He’s more than welcome to be a part of it … It’s a trip, because you’re looking and somebody says that ‘the magic is not even there’ who’s never even tried it.”
Ice Cube also asserted that, if for nothing else, Tucker should return to the franchise to respect his fanbase.
“We put the first one together and we can put another one together. So he should really trust that, and do what his fans want him to do. You should never out grow your fans. And if the fans want him to do this movie, that’s what we’re in this for, then that’s what he should do,” the rapper added.
Chris Tucker also declined being in the ‘Friday’ series because of religious reasons
Ice Cube has always hoped that, if there is a Friday sequel, that Tucker would make his comeback to the franchise. According to Ice Cube, he once even offered Tucker a substantial amount of money to return to the Friday franchise. But aside from the magic potentially being gone, Tucker also rejected a sequel due to religion and drug use.
“We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons,” Ice Cube once tweeted. “He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore.”
Tucker would also share that weed played a part in him avoiding the movies in an interview with All Urban Central.
“Back then, I gotta tell you, one of the reasons why I didn’t do the second one was because of the weed,” Tucker said. “Man, that movie became a phenomenon. I don’t want everybody smoking weed and I never really told people this because I kind of forgot about it, but it was one of the reasons why I didn’t do it. Because I said, ‘I don’t wanna represent everybody smoking weed.'”
