Ice Cube Is Developing a Fourth Friday Comedy Film

Ice Cube is developing a fourth installment of the Friday comedy franchise while working through ongoing pre-production paperwork.

Three decades after the original film debuted in 1995, the filmmaker and hip-hop icon said that the Jones family will return to screens. He pointed to foundational 1970s comedies like Car Wash and Cooley High as his original blueprint for creating an inviting neighborhood atmosphere.

Fans have waited years for a follow-up to Next Friday and Friday After Next. Cube explained that the project is currently moving forward slowly.

“We’re working on doing a fourth one right now,” Cube said, as reported by Scoop B Radio. “We’re just working on the boring paperwork stuff, [laughs] but after we’re done with that, we’re going to be shooting a very funny movie.”

Writing a new chapter requires confronting the real-life losses of several prominent cast members from previous films. The franchise previously lost John Witherspoon, who played Pops, alongside Tom “Tiny” Lister Jr., Bernie Mac, AJ Johnson, and Yvette Wilson.

“You like Friday because it’s a hyper-funny way to look at real life,” Cube told Scoop B Radio. “Death and tragedy—we look up and how many people are missing in our lives since Friday came out in 1995? They’re not here no more, and we miss them and remember them, but we still gotta move on and live life and laugh today, tomorrow, the next day.”

When looking for comedy inspiration today, Cube frequently turns to his former co-star Mike Epps. He praised Epps’ enduring style and compared his generation-bridging energy to that of Witherspoon.

“Mike Epps is just extremely funny to me,” Cube said on Scoop B Radio. “His style of comedy just never gets old to me. That’s just his personality. He’s just funny.”

Directorially, Cube encourages that spontaneity on set by letting cameras roll past standard cues when Epps improvises as Day-Day.

“A lot of his stuff is off the dome and in the moment, and we give him that freedom to feel free,” Cube told Scoop B Radio. “We’re gonna keep the cameras rolling and we ain’t gonna yell ‘Cut!’ too quick.”

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