Ice Cube revealed why Chris Tucker declined to do Next Friday despite being offered a huge amount of money. On social media, one fan asked him about the older project. He basically said that they offered Tucker $10-12 million to come back to the franchise. However, religious reasons led to the comedian not returning. That makes a lot of sense, the filmmakers were forced to pivot away from Smokey and find some other way to tell Craig’s story. Clearly, it worked out as the movie had a bunch of sequels, including one that’s supposed to be still in development. But, a lot of people lamented not having Tucker back in the fold for further installments. It remains to be seen if the big Friday project that Ice Cube has been working on for years now will make it out. But, the actor is hopeful that something will materialize. Existing IP is all the rage now, and Friday has a built-in fanbase and name recognition. THere’s not much more that you could ask for as a movie studio.
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On Twitter, the performer wrote, “We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons. He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore.”
Previously Ice Cube talked to Seth Myers about how the death of John Witherspoon affected all the people who worked with him. He really regrets not getting the next Friday out before the beloved actor passed away.
Cube began, “We’re still grieving over the loss of such a talented, special man. He wasn’t just funny. Everybody saw his funny side, but he was also a serious, thoughtful guy.”
Witherspoon leaves quite a large hole in the Friday franchise. His death forced them to rewrite some of the project, but more than that, his grounding presence is sorely missed. Craig’s father delivers some of the most clear-eyed wisdom during the original film. Now, some of that weight will have to come from somewhere else. “Hopefully we’ll figure it out. But for now, it’s really on the back burner. We feel like we all lost our pops, our grandpops, our uncle.”
Are you still excited for the next Friday project? Do you think Tucker, Ice Cube, and all the other actors involved can pull this thing together? Let us know down in the comments!
