Ice Cube claimed his “Friday” co-star Chris Tucker turned down a $10-12 million paycheck to reprise his role in the sequel for a very specific reason.
The 1995 comedy about how the duo must come up with $200 they owe a local bully was a box office hit. It led to two sequels, 2000’s “Next Friday” and 2002’s “Friday After Next.” However, the rapper and actor, who also served as a producer on the films, said the comic didn’t return to play his character Smokey due to “religious reasons.”
“We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons,” the 55-year-old tweeted when someone asked on Wednesday whether Tucker, 50, “quit over money” reasons.
“He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore,” the star added.
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A rep for Tucker didn’t immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
In November, Tucker reflected on his decision to step away from the franchise.
“Back then, I gotta tell you, one of the reasons why I didn’t do the second one was because of the weed,” Tucker told All Urban Central. “Because I said, man, that movie became a phenomenon. I don’t want everybody smoking weed — and I never really told people this because I kind of forgot about it, but it was one of the reasons why I didn’t do it. Because I said, ‘I don’t wanna represent everybody smoking weed.'”
“And that’s one of the reasons why I said ‘Nah,'” Tucker continued. “I didn’t wanna keep doing that character. It probably was good for me because it kept me moving to the next phase and next movies.”
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Actor/writer/producer Ice Cube during “Friday After Next” premiere in California. (Photo by Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage)
Tucker also noted that he “never thought about doing sequels” as another contributing factor.
“I always wanted to do a good job and keep moving to the next movie,” he added.
However, it’s noted that Tucker appeared in three “Rush Hour” movies with co-star Jackie Chan.
Still, Tucker didn’t completely rule out the possibility of returning for a potential fourth “Friday” movie. When asked about the long-rumored follow-up, Tucker told the outlet that he would “definitely consider it.”
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Chris Tucker attends the Fifth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards on May 25, 1995, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I always said — because I know my fans love the movies so much [and] they always bring it up — I said, well, if they come to me with a great script and a great idea, I’d definitely consider it,” the star explained. “But it’s been so long ago and that character became such a great character. I don’t wanna mess it up.”
