Next Friday

Next Friday
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve Carr
Produced by	Claire Rudnick Polstein, Douglas Curtis, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Matt Moore, Michael Gruber
Written by	Ice Cube
Narrated by	Ice Cube
Starring	Ice Cube Mike Epps Justin Pierce Tamala Jones Don "D.C." Curry with John Witherspoon and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.
Music by	Terence Blanchard
Cinematography	Christopher J. Baffa
Editing by	Elena Maganini
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	January 12, 2000 (2000-01-12)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11 million[1]
Box office	$59,827,328 [1]

Next Friday is a 2000 comedy film, and the sequel to the 1995 film Friday. This is the first film to be produced by producer Ice Cube's film production company Cubevision. The film is directed by Steve Carr, and stars Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Don "D.C." Curry, John Witherspoon, and Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.

Plot

The film reflects back to the ending of Friday, including the fight between Craig (Ice Cube) and Deebo (Lister Jr.). Rumor has spread to the neighborhood that Deebo has broken out of jail and will come looking for Craig. As a precaution, Craig's father (Witherspoon) decides to have him stay with Elroy (Curry), Craig's sex-crazed, lottery winning uncle, and his cousin Day-Day (Epps). Initially, life in Rancho Cucamonga seems to be ideal, however, trouble soon arises in many different areas.

Day-Day's pregnant ex-girlfriend D'Wana (Tamala Jones) is angry over him breaking up with her and claims he is the father, which he later points out is untrue because she was already showing signs of pregnancy when they first met. She vandalizes his car, which is precious to him, and then sprays pepper spray into his eyes. D'Wana leaves and threatens to return with her "little" sister Baby D (Lady of Rage). In spite of his family winning the lottery, Day-Day informs Craig that they are not rich anymore. After taxes had been taken from their winnings, all they were left with was their house and Day-Day's BMW. Because of this situation, Day-Day still has a job at Pinky's, a local record store.

While staying with his uncle and cousin, Craig learns about the neighborhood trouble; a family of Mexican thugs (the Jokers) living next door whom have all served prison time at one point or another, the oldest of whom had just been released. Craig also takes notice of their eldest sister Carla, however, he's warned by Day-Day to stay away from her because of her brothers and the trouble that they pose.

Craig visits Day-Day at his work place and meets Day-Day's friend/co-worker "Roach" (Justin Pierce). After an angry customer attempts to scam Day-Day out of money by returning a broken CD, Craig throws him out of the store. Immediately after, Day-Day notices D'Wana and Baby D parked across the street from the store waiting for Day-Day to come out. Day-Day locks the door and makes Craig and Roach join him into the back. The three of them are drawn outside by D'Wana and Baby D. Craig and Roach stand on the sidelines while Baby D attempts to run after Day-Day, but fails when Day-Day proves to be much too fast. Baby D tells Day-Day to hook her up with Craig, but Craig runs inside which angers D'Wana and Baby D, and they further vandalize Day-Day's car with a brick and then they leave. Craig Day-Day and Roach then stay in the back and smoke where Roach shows Craig and Day-Day a brownie with chronic in it. At this time, the store's owner, Pinky, arrives to find the store locked up. He believes Craig is a thief in the process of robbing the store and pulls a gun on him. Craig attempts to explain the situation, but Pinky continues to be unreasonable. When Pinky slips on some CD cases spilled on the floor, he loses his gun, which Craig retrieves and continues to tell Pinky he's not a thief, and that Day-Day is his cousin. Pinky verifies the truth from Day-Day and fires both him and Roach out of anger.

The three of them ride back to Day-Day's, with Day-Day extremely upset with Craig. As they're sitting in the front yard trying to think of a solution, as earlier that day the mailman delivered a delinquency notice of foreclosure on their house. Roach attempts to leave but slips on his skateboard which is then intentionally run over by the Joker brothers' Cadillac. The three of them sit and watch the Jokers exit their vehicle, with the elder Joker removing a suspicious hydraulic pump from the trunk. At this point, Craig formulates an idea to find out what's inside the pump. Craig and Day-Day jump the fence of the Joker house. Craig breaks inside while the three brothers are having a small party with their dates downstairs. While Roach is trying to keep the Joker's dog Chico occupied with a package of bologna, but once he runs out Roach uses his chronic brownie which makes Chico passout. Craig finds the hydraulic pump in the elder Joker's bedroom, which turns out to be a hiding place for a large amount of drug cash, and takes some of it. After attempting to escape, Craig accidentally jumps through Carla's window, which actually impresses her that he has the courage to come see her in spite of her intimidating brothers.

Day-Day and Roach grow nervous about Craig's prolonged absence and attempt to go find him. They knock at the door and are greeted by the three brothers armed with pistols and automatic rifles. They take Day-Day and Roach hostage, and attempt to find out where their money went. Eventually, Craig's father, Deebo and his younger brother Tyrone show up simultaneously. When Craig realizes that Day-Day hasn't returned home, he, Mr. Jones, and Elroy plan a rescue mission. Craig's father knocks out Baby Joker with a two-by-four beam and proceeds to help Craig and Elroy liberate Day-Day and Roach.

Craig and Joker face off in a bare-knuckle brawl, while Day-Day and Roach, bound and gagged, attempt to escape. Elroy arrives and berates Day-Day for getting him involved in the mess they are in, while untying him and Roach from their duct tape bindings. Craig struggles with Joker, until Day-Day and Roach appear. They both dive in to help, but Joker moves out of the way, and grabs an assault rifle, pointing it at the three of them. Deebo appears behind Joker, knocking him out and takes the weapon, aiming it at Craig. Then Chico arrives and attacks Deebo.

Soon after, the police arrive and arrest the Joker brothers, Deebo and Tyrone. However they are unaware of the hydraulic pump and its contents, and thus Craig, Day-Day and Roach are left with the cash which helps in paying their debts so that Elroy and Day-Day can keep their house. The film ends with Craig leaving Rancho Cucamonga, and him witnessing D'Wana and Baby Dee showing up and tossing a brick at Day-Day's BMW, smashing his windows, and driving off, laughing.

Cast

Main article: List of characters in the Friday series

Ice Cube — Craig Jones Mike Epps — Day-Day Jones Justin Pierce — Roach John Witherspoon — Mr. Jones Don "D.C." Curry — Uncle Elroy Jacob Vargas — Joker Amy Hill — Mrs. Ho-Kym Clifton Powell — Pinky

Kym Whitley — Auntie Suga Tamala Jones — D'Wana Robyn "Lady of Rage" Allen — Baby D Lisa Rodríguez — Karla Tommy Lister Jr. — Deebo Sticky Fingaz — Tyrone Lobo Sebastian — Lil' Joker Rolando Molina — Baby Joker Michael Blackson — Angry African Cameo appearances: Ronn Riser — Stanley Michael Rapaport — Mailman

Soundtrack

Main article: Next Friday (soundtrack)

The film's soundtrack, which featured appearances from Aaliyah, Eminem, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Snoop Dogg, Wu-Tang Clan, and Wyclef Jean, peaked at number five on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts, and nineteen on the Billboard 200 in 2000.

Reception

The film was met with negative reviews, earning a 20% "rotten" rating from Rotten Tomatoes,^[2] and on Metacritic the film has received a score of 41, based on 25 reviews. The film was, however, successful at the box office. Next Friday grossed $14,465,156 on its opening weekend in 1,103 theaters, averaging $13,114 per theater. The film has grossed $57,328,603 in North America and $2,498,725 in the Foreign box office to earn a total $59,827,328 worldwide.

Awards

2000 MTV Movie Awards

• Best Comedic Performance — Ice Cube (nominated)

Home video release

Next Friday was released on DVD June 6, 2000. The single disc DVD contains a theatrical trailer, music videos, a "making of..." featurette, behind the scenes footage, and an alternate ending as well as cast and crew information.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Next Friday (2000)". Box Office Mojo. 2000-05-26. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=nextfriday.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-20. 
2. ^ "Next Friday (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/next_friday. Retrieved 2011-04-20. 

External links

• Next Friday at AllRovi
• Next Friday at Box Office Mojo
• Next Friday at the Internet Movie Database
• Next Friday at Rotten Tomatoes