'One of Them Days' Director Lawrence Lamont Tapped for Ice Cube's 'Last Friday'

The first Friday film in 25 years will shoot in Southern California with $11.4 million in state tax credits.

By Herald Staff · Oct. 27, 2026, 6:40 PM ET

A cinema camera on a dolly track beside a vintage sedan on a palm-lined Los Angeles street of bungalows at golden hour. — New Line plans a 40-day shoot for 'Last Friday' in Southern California.

The next "Friday" movie has a director. Lawrence Lamont, who made his feature debut with last year's "One of Them Days," has been tapped to direct "Last Friday," the first installment of New Line's buddy-comedy series in 25 years, The Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday. The film is planned for a Southern California shoot.

Who Is Making It

Ice Cube, who co-created the franchise, is writing the script, producing and starring, according to the Reporter. Bob Teitel and Michael Gruber of Cube's CubeVision are also producing, and Jeff Kwatinetz is executive producing. The report did not give a production start date or a release date, as Digg's summary of the story noted.

The original "Friday," directed by F. Gary Gray, followed Cube's Craig Jones and Chris Tucker's Smokey through a chaotic day in South Central Los Angeles. Cube wrote it with DJ Pooh. It came out in 1995, and the sequels "Next Friday" (2000) and "Friday After Next" (2002) followed. Cube starred in all three films, while Tucker appeared only in the first, the Reporter said. A short-lived animated series aired on MTV2 in the 2000s.

The Director's Track Record

Lamont first gained attention directing music videos for Big Sean, including "I Don't F*** With You," and later worked with artists including J. Cole, Jhené Aiko, Snoop Dogg and Nas, the Reporter said. He won an MTV Video Music Award for his video "Light."

"One of Them Days," starring Keke Palmer and SZA as two friends in Los Angeles, shares some ground with the "Friday" films: it is a buddy comedy set in the city. The $14 million TriStar release grossed more than $51 million worldwide and later spent four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Netflix, according to the Reporter. Lamont received the AAFCA Breakthrough Director Award and an NAACP Image Award nomination for outstanding directing in a motion picture.

A State Tax Credit Behind the Shoot

"Last Friday" is also one of the productions that is staying in California with public help. New Line received $11.4 million through the state's production incentive program, with plans for 40 filming days and an expected 43 cast members and 150 crew, per the Reporter.

The credit was announced earlier this month. Deadline reported that the California Film Commission selected 35 feature films for tax credits in its latest round, a slate that Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said is expected to bring $1.08 billion in California spending and involve nearly 30,000 cast, crew and background jobs. Besides "Last Friday," the list includes the sequel to Lionsgate's Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" and a new project from filmmaker Mike Mills.

"I'm thrilled to produce Last Friday right here in Southern California, where our cast and crew lives," Ice Cube said in the state's announcement, as quoted by Deadline. "This story has been part of the fabric of South Los Angeles since our first film 31 years ago, so producing the film here with more than 180 local cast and crew underscores the value of the California production incentive program."

The news comes as local production remains weak. Shoot days in Los Angeles fell nearly 5% from June to September compared with a year earlier, and the total is 36% below the five-year average, according to a FilmLA report covered by The Hollywood Reporter. That decline came even though projects receiving state incentives made up a record 40% of on-location filming.

What We Don't Know Yet

Beyond Lamont and Cube, no other cast has been announced in the reports reviewed, including whether Tucker will return. Without a start date, it is not yet clear when cameras will roll on the South Los Angeles streets the franchise has long been tied to.

Original reporting by The Los Angeles Herald, drawing on the news outlets linked above.