Ice Cube Confirms Last Friday Is Happening — and Chris Tucker May Be Back

After nearly a decade of false starts, Last Friday is finally, actually happening. Ice Cube and Mike Epps sat down with Entertainment Tonight to deliver the news fans of the franchise have been waiting years to hear — the fourth installment of the beloved Friday series is in development at Warner Bros., has a story, and is set to start filming later this year.

“Going down” is how Epps put it. Simple, direct, and honestly kind of perfect for a franchise that’s always kept it real.

Chris Tucker’s Return Is Looking Likely

The question on every Friday fan’s mind has always been the same: is Smokey coming back? Chris Tucker only appeared in the original 1995 film, famously passing on both sequels, and his absence has been the defining hole in the franchise ever since. Now, for the first time, there’s genuine reason to believe that might change.

Both Cube and Epps confirmed that they’re actively in conversations with Tucker about reprising the role — and by all accounts, he’s interested.

“We’re talking to him, and he wants to come back,” Epps said.

Cube was even more bullish about it. “He’s one of the best. I think he’s going to do it.”

Nothing is signed yet, but that kind of confidence from the people actually making the movie means something. Tucker returning as Smokey alongside Craig (Cube) would be the reunion moment the franchise has been building toward for over 25 years.

What the Movie Is Actually About

Plot details are still tightly under wraps, but Cube and Epps confirmed the film will explore the gentrification of a neighborhood — a timely, grounded premise that fits squarely within the Friday universe’s tradition of using comedy to tell real stories about Black community life.

What we know the movie won’t be about: an earlier script Cube had developed was rejected by New Line Cinema back in 2024, and he’s been pretty candid about how frustrating that process was. While speaking on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday podcast, Cube opened up about the creative standoff with the studio.

“I know these characters, know this culture and everything,” he said. “I know what it need to be. And they don’t. So they had a guy in there named Toby Emmerich and he wouldn’t make the movie, we was trying to get it made.”

He also revealed what that rejected script actually looked like. “I wrote a script where Craig and Day, they had a dispensary and they had a flash mob in there and they caught one of the kids and beat his little ass and they end up going to jail,” Cube said. “So they in jail ducking Deebo, they in jail ducking Damon, they in jail ducking the Joker brothers.”

Honestly? That sounds amazing. But the deal eventually got done — New Line confirmed earlier this year that they’d closed an agreement with Cube to write and star in the new film — and now the project has a real greenlight and a production timeline to match.

A Long Road to Get Here

Ice Cube has been pushing for a fourth Friday film since at least 2017. The original, which he co-created with DJ Pooh, launched in 1995 as a low-budget buddy comedy about Craig and Smokey navigating a single chaotic day in their South Central neighborhood — dodging a drug dealer, a bully, and everything in between. It became a cultural touchstone, spawning Next Friday in 2000 and Friday After Next in 2002.

Earlier this year, Epps had already hinted the wheels were turning during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. Now with both stars speaking on the record, a filming window confirmed, and Tucker’s potential return on the table, Last Friday is closer to real than it’s ever been.

If Tucker signs on, this won’t just be another sequel. It’ll be a full-circle moment — one that’s been 30 years in the making.