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Written, produced, and starring rap star Ice Cube (Three Kings, Boyz ‘n the Hood), Next Friday, the sequel to the video sleeper hit Friday, finds Craig (Ice Cube) still living in South Central Los Angeles with his parents reliving his glory days when he defeated the local bully, Debo (Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Jr.). To his dismay, Debo has escaped prison and is looking to exact revenge on Craig. In a Fresh Prince-like turn, Craig’s father (John Witherspoon) sends him to live with his Uncle Elroy (Don “DC” Curry) and cousin Day-Day (newcomer Mike Epps) in the suburbs.

In interviews with the principals and director Steve Carr, light was shed on why a sequel was made to the little known Friday.

“I had vowed never to do a sequel,” says Ice Cube. “…Because the first one was so good. People loved it. Why mess with it? But after years of so many people saying how much they loved it and that they were waiting for the sequel, it started my head churning on what could I do to make sure this was as good or better than the first one. Let’s take these same characters and put them in a new environment, a new neighborhood, with new characters and just do a new movie and not dwell on the old movie so much, but do something totally new.”

“This is really a character-driven comedy and that’s what I like about it. There are no big explosions and no big love stories. Craig is just an ordinary guy and people relate to that,” Cube says. “I always wanted to make a movie like Car Wash – a cult classic that people loved. Friday has become one of those films where audiences memorize the dialogue and know the scenes inside out. I think Next Friday has that same potential.”
When first-time feature film director Steve Carr was asked to comment about whites directing blacks and blacks directing whites and never the twain shall meet, Carr replied, “Then I must be a freak of nature. I studied fine arts in school. The first job I ever had was designing album covers for Def Jam. The only work experience I’ve ever had has been in black music, black video, and I guess, now, black film. It’s a ten millimeter lens and they’re standing over there. If they’re white, they’re still going to look the same through the lens. Ang Lee doesn’t seem to have problems doing movies about England.”

A running joke in the movie is marijuana. When asked about the prevalence of those scenes, Carr said, “There’s going to be a part of the population that finds it offensive. They say it affects short-term memory… What was the question again? Some of the funniest things I’ve ever seen were in Cheech and Chong movies. That was certainly much more about smoking pot than this. This has two or three scenes where they do. You make a comedy that nobody gets offended by, it’s probably not that funny.”

While the original film served as the launching pad of then-rising-comic, Chris Tucker, the producers decided to go with another lesser known comic for it’s sequel. They found that comic with Mike Epps, who makes his feature film debut as Day-Day, Craig’s suburbia cousin. Picked from a nationwide search of more than 250 comedians, Epps says, “I feel like the luckiest man in the world. One minute I’m on the road doing stand-up and the next I’m playing opposite a guy I idolize in a sequel to one of my favorite films.”

When Mike Epps, a stand-up comic, found out they were casting for Next, he made the move from New York. “Somebody in my management knew Cube so they set it up so he could come to the comedy club to see me. I just put my thang down. I didn’t get the role right then. I had to go through the audition process. It took, like, a month.”

Was he nervous when he got the role? “Ohmigod. I had to follow Chris Tucker, too, with his silly self? I’m either going to win or lose, but I was ready for the challenge. It was a good challenge. When I first started, everybody was trying to throw me off by saying every five minutes ‘Chris Tucker… Oh Chris Tucker…’ I just went it in…I’m from the midwest, I know Chris is from down South so I brought, shit, that I would say out of my mouth – being from Indiana.”

Epps has since landed a role in Bait, an action-comedy about :an ex-con who is used by police to lure a criminal out of hiding. The film also stars Any Given Sunday’s Jamie Foxx, Bowfinger’s Jamie Kennedy, The Hurricane’s David Paymer, and The Green Mile’s Doug Hutchinson and David Morse.

The film also delivers a rockin’ soundtrack featuring Ice Cube, Wycleaf Jean, Aaliyah, Wu-Tan Clan, Eminem, and the highly anticipated reunion of N.W.A. featuring Snoop Dogg.

Next Friday opened in theatres nationwide January 12, 2000.

The film also delivers a rockin’ soundtrack featuring Ice Cube, Wycleaf Jean, Aaliyah, Wu-Tan Clan, Eminem, and the highly anticipated reunion of N.W.A. featuring Snoop Dogg. Next Friday opened in theatres nationwide January 12, 2000.

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originally posted: 01/12/00 19:54:45
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