Ice Cube & New Line Cinema Have Found Their ‘Last Friday’ Director
Billboard ·
The rapper-turned-filmmaker has been trying to make the last installment of the Friday franchise for quite some time now.
We’re really getting the last installment of the Friday franchise.
Ice Cube and co-star Mike Epps have been teasing the possibility for a couple of years now, with the former telling Flavor Flav in 2024 that talks with Warner Bros. were gaining “traction” and the latter telling The Breakfast Club the film was green-lit back in March 2025.
Then, a month later, New Line Cinema boss Richard Brener told The Hollywood Reporter that they were indeed moving forward. “We are making another Friday ,” he said. “We just closed a deal with Ice Cube to write and star. It’s going to be called Last Friday .” And earlier this year, Epps and Cube appeared on Entertainment Tonight and said the movie will likely deal with gentrification and seemed optimistic that Chris Tucker would be willing to return as Smokey, the role that made him a star.
Now, according to THR , it looks like they’ve found their director in Lawrence Lamont, who most recently directed Keke Palmer and SZA in the funny and entertaining buddy flick One of Them Days in his feature film directorial debut. Lamont’s other claim to fame is directing several music videos for fellow Detroit native Big Sean, including “I Don’t F— With You.”
The outlet is also reporting that Last Friday will be filmed in Southern California on a 40-day schedule with an expected 43 cast members and a 150-man crew while receiving $11.4 million to shoot in L.A., thanks to a California production incentive program.
The first Friday movie was released in 1995 and his since become a classic, with sequels Next Friday and the Christmas-centered Friday After Next following in 2000 and 2002, respectively.
We’ll now get to see what Craig, Day-Day and (hopefully) Smokey are up to nearly 25 years later.