- by Jerry Rice
[Friday, November 22, 2002]

'Twas a few weeks before Christmas and all through the hood, not a creature was stirring except an accountant or two tallying the expected profits for "Friday After Next."

The latest comedy romp in the money-making "Friday" franchise brings the fictional characters of Craig and Day-Day back to South Central Los Angeles where they land jobs during the holiday rush as security guards at a small strip mall. It opened, appropriately enough, on Friday.

"I felt the time was right for another one," says Ice Cube, who served as screenwriter and producer in addition to starring as Craig. "The bottom line with this movie is just laffin'. It's all about having fun and letting your hair down a little bit and going on this crazy little one-day ride with Craig and Day-Day."

Of course, it's also about making money.

And while this sequel won't come close to last weekend's record box-office numbers posted by "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," it doesn't have to. New Line Cinema, the studio behind Cube's "Friday" franchise, shelled out $22 million for the new one—considerably less than the $100-plus million Warner Bros. spent on "Chamber."

"That's the secret," says Ed Mintz, president of Las Vegas-based CinemaScore, a company that polls moviegoers on opening night to get their reactions to films. "You've got to keep the budget down and make nice, little movies."

While many would characterize the "Friday" trilogy as being more "naughty" than "nice" (the films feature plenty of strong language, sexual content and drug use), there certainly is no question they have scored with their target audience of young urban adults.

And not just here in the United States.

John Witherspoon, who plays Craig's father in the franchise, says he has been recognized at airports in Europe for his toilet scene in the first "Friday." (By the way, he does an encore in "Friday After Next.")

"I do stand-up (comedy) all over and everywhere I go, they love 'Friday,' " Witherspoon says. "I've heard people watch it 100 times; every Friday they watch it. What don't they have to do on Fridays that they've got to watch that movie again?"

But if they want to, that's certainly OK with New Line Cinema. "Friday" and "Next Friday" earned a combined $85.1 million at the box office, a hefty return on the $13 million the studio spent to make them. Add to that their popularity on home video.

"Had the second one sort of just come and gone, we wouldn't have seen this third one," Mintz says of "Friday After Next." "It was because the first sequel did reasonable, it was worth doing this one."

Several cast members have returned for the third trip: Mike Epps as Craig's cousin, Day-Day; Don "D.C." Curry as Uncle Elroy; and Anna Maria Horsford and Witherspoon as Craig's parents.

It opens with Craig and Day-Day getting ready for Christmas living in the rundown Shady Palms apartment. But after a ghetto Santa Claus breaks in and steals their presents and rent money, they are forced to work as guards armed only with whistles in the mall where their fathers own a barbecue restaurant.

"I thought it was a great angle for a third," says Marcus Raboy, a longtime collaborator with Cube on several of his rap videos, who is making his feature directorial debut with "Friday After Next."

For Raboy, it also provided some interesting angles to work through: He's a Jewish director from New York doing a Christmas movie that takes place in the hood.

"Knowing that I was coming into a hot franchise that has such a great audience already, I did my homework," he says. "I watched everything. I worked it from every angle. The goal was to get out on the set and have everybody comfortable."

Everybody including Cube, who's excited about the arrival of the new "Friday"—the second one he has scripted alone after co-writing the first.

Fresh off the box-office success of "Barbershop," Cube expects "Friday After Next" to continue his streak of money-making releases that list him as both star and producer.

Says Cube: "'Friday After Next' is going to add to our brand."

'FRIDAY' TRILOGY

'NEXT FRIDAY'

Release date: Jan. 14, 2000
Budget/gross: $9.5 million/$57.2 million
Director: Steve Carr
Stars: Ice Cube, Tamala Jones, Mike Epps, Don 'D.C.' Curry, John Witherspoon
Synopsis: Craig's worried father arranges to have his son leave Compton to live with his uncle Elroy and cousin Day-Day in Rancho Cucamonga. Once there, Craig learns the 'burbs prove no more danger-free than his old neighborhood.
Tagline: The suburbs make the hood look good.

'FRIDAY AFTER NEXT'

Release date: Nov. 22, 2002
Budget/gross: $22 million/to be determined
Director: Marcus Raboy
Stars: Ice Cube, Mike Epps, John Witherspoon, K.D. Aubert
Synopsis: Craig and Day-Day have moved back to the hood and land jobs working as security guards at a small strip mall right before Christmas. Their first day proves to be an eventful one.
Tagline: When last Friday was just another day.

[Read more about Ice Cube in Cube: No controversy in 'Barbershop' barbs.]