After 24 years, “Last Friday” finally has a director. New Line has hired Lawrence Lamont, the filmmaker behind “One of Them Days,” to direct Ice Cube’s fourth Friday movie, The Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday.
Cube wrote the script and will star and produce. The plan is concrete now: a 40 day shoot in Southern California, 43 cast members, 150 crew, and $11.4 million in state incentives to film in Los Angeles.
“I haven’t received any emails or calls from my agent about this project. I swear to God I will call mom.”
O’Shea Jackson Jr., on X, Tuesday
That was Cube’s son reacting to the news on Tuesday. O’Shea Jackson Jr. played his father in “Straight Outta Compton,” and so far nobody has called him about this one, at least not that he is letting on in public.
The biggest open question is still Smokey. Chris Tucker played him in the original “Friday” in 1995 and never came back, sitting out both sequels while Mike Epps stepped in as Day-Day. Tucker is reportedly in talks to return, and Cube and Epps have both said the talks sound promising, but nothing is signed.
Lamont fits the job. “One of Them Days,” his comedy about two friends in Los Angeles scrambling after their rent money vanished, made more than $50 million on a $14 million budget, and it played like a Friday movie for a new generation. Before features, he directed music videos for Big Sean and J. Cole.
The first “Friday” cost almost nothing and became a movie a whole generation quotes line for line. This one has a director, a script and a shoot plan. Now it needs Smokey.