Ice Cube Opens Up About Upcoming Friday Sequel

Ice Cube is still reveling in the events that have just transpired. On April 15, the trailblazing West Coast MC and actor left his mark with a hand and footprint ceremony outside of the TCL Chinese Theatre, where friends, family and fans gathered outside to celebrate his storied career. The same day, he announced the Truth to Power: 4 Decades of Attitude Tour, his first headlining tour in over a decade, which will allow Cube to dig deeper into his catalog for his “day-ones.”

Those who’ve been riding with Cube since the late ‘80s, when N.W.A came out firing on all cylinders with 1988’s Straight Outta Compton, have bore witness to Cube’s evolution from a young, hungry gangsta rapper to a bona fide movie star, with roles in Boyz n the Hood, Barbershop, Friday and 21 Jump Street, to name a few. Friday was Cube’s screenwriting debut and became a cult classic and one of the most iconic stoner comedies of all time.

Days removed from the honor and a day after 4/20, Cube spoke with The Hollywood Reporter on his time in the entertainment industry, the long-awaited fourth Friday film Last Friday and addressing deaths of the movie’s original cast members in the upcoming sequel.

Shortly after getting the honor, you suggested that the movie industry is something you never thought you’d be a part of. What were some of those barriers and how did you overcome them?

I’m fortunate because I was discovered by John Singleton, and he put me in a great movie and a great role. But any time you’re coming from music into the movie industry, there’s skepticism, even though I don’t know why. Early Hollywood, you had to be able to sing, dance, act and tap dance probably [laughs]. You had to do it all. But the industry still kind of makes you go through a little bit of skepticism, so to speak, when you get into it from the music industry. So those hurdles, the hurdles of people’s minds and them limiting me in their own mind. I had to let people know that, for one, I respect the industry. There’s no bigger canvas than a movie screen for artists. I had to show that I respect the industry and that I was a writer and producer and more than just an actor that was put in a movie by a great director.

The next Friday film, Last Friday, is finally coming. You’ve lost several of the original cast members, including Pops, Deebo and Ezal. How will that affect the film?

It’s something you have to address. These are beloved people, not just characters in a movie, We’re talking about John Witherspoon (Pops), Tiny Lister (Deebo) and AJ Johnson (Ezal). We got to address it. But we still making a movie and still making a comedy, and it’s still gonna be fun. It’s people you want to kick it with. It’s people you want to catch up to and see what’s going on. Then there’s room to introduce new characters. I always saw this like Star Wars; people can pop in and out any time.

It’s about revisiting a family that’s going through it now in 2025. It’s really catching up.

Is it going to pick up with you as an adult who has his own family?

Now, you know I can’t give you that much [laughs]. I can’t tell you that much. It’s like when you’re cooking in the kitchen and can’t nobody come in the kitchen if they not cooking, so wait for your plate [laughs]. Smell it, but you don’t need to taste it yet.

I think the magic of movies like this is if you don’t see the punches coming, you just enjoy the movie without knowing too much. The fans, they already know it’s coming, so they already like, “Alright Cube. Don’t fuck this up.”

Does that put more pressure on you?

There’s no pressure because I’m working with the best in the business. With each movie you do, you have to make it good and great. You can’t just expect people to spend their time and money on something that’s not worth it. The fun of making people laugh is actually working with things in current times and people and personalities that draw laughter, some reality, so you’re gonna have fun.

What’s the best part about getting to bring this film back?

Hearing people laugh in the theater. Hearing how much people enjoy it. Having quotable lines that they take to their regular life, like “Bye Felicia,” or something like that. That’s when a movie is great to me. It’s not how much money you make. No, it’s how many times people can watch it and enjoy it. That’s really the measuring stick.

When making the first film, did you this would become such a cult classic?

It felt like we was doing something that Hollywood kind of counted out in a way. There was a movie called CB4. It looked closely at the rap industry and hardcore rap. We had had movies like Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society. We had these hardcore movies about our neighborhood, but we never had a movie where we kind of laughed at the situations instead of cry.

It was like, “Yo, let’s have fun with it. Let’s turn everything on his ear and laugh at this stuff.” Because if we made Friday as a drama, it would be pretty heavy. But it being a comedy, it was important to show that our life wasn’t a nightmare like they showed in some of these movies. We wanted to show that we were actually having fun a little bit with some of this crazy stuff.

Chris Tucker’s Smokey was a big part of the original film. Is he going to make any return?

He’s always invited. That’s all I can say.