Lawrence Lamont Is Taking On ‘Last Friday’—and His First Film Explains the Choice

Lawrence Lamont has been selected to direct ‘Last Friday,’ the long-awaited fourth movie in Ice Cube’s neighborhood comedy franchise. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the appointment on October 27. Lamont then confirmed it in a public statement shared with the report, writing that he hoped to honor what made the earlier films special while bringing his own vision, heart and perspective.

The assignment moves the project beyond years of hopeful interviews and into a more defined creative stage. Ice Cube is writing, starring and producing. Bob Teitel and CubeVision’s Michael Gruber are also producing, with Jeff Kwatinetz serving as executive producer. A director is now attached, but that does not mean filming has begun or that every rumored cast member has signed.

Why Lamont’s first feature matters

Lamont’s first feature makes the choice more than a recognizable-name hire. ‘One of Them Days,’ starring Keke Palmer and SZA, follows two friends racing across Los Angeles to replace missing rent money before eviction. The story builds comedy from friendship, economic pressure and neighborhood personalities over one chaotic day—creative territory that plainly overlaps with ‘Friday’ without simply repeating it.

Lamont has already described that lineage in his own words. In an earlier interview with The Hollywood Reporter, included above for context, he said preserving the roots of Black cinema in Los Angeles mattered to him. He named ‘Friday,’ ‘Boyz n the Hood,’ ‘Poetic Justice,’ John Singleton’s work and the Hughes brothers among the influences surrounding ‘One of Them Days.’ That history makes his new assignment feel like a continuation of an artistic conversation, not a retrofit invented after the hire.

His route to the director’s chair also runs through hip-hop. The Detroit-raised filmmaker began with music videos, including work connected to Big Sean, J. Cole and Jhené Aiko, before directing episodes of Issa Rae’s ‘Rap Sh!t.’ In a 2025 interview with Detroit nonprofit newsroom Outlier Media, Lamont said he drew the emotional texture of ‘One of Them Days’ from a family shaped largely by Black women and leaned on writer Syreeta Singleton and producer Issa Rae to keep the women’s voices authentic. That answer showed an important directorial instinct: bring a point of view, but know when other collaborators hold essential knowledge.

A franchise with history—and absences

The original ‘Friday,’ directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Ice Cube and DJ Pooh, arrived in 1995. ‘Next Friday’ followed in 2000 and ‘Friday After Next’ in 2002. Their afterlife extends far beyond box-office totals: viewers still quote the characters, debate the performances and recognize the films’ particular mixture of danger, exaggeration, affection and everyday neighborhood observation. Returning to that world more than two decades later creates a difficult balance between familiarity and change.

It also means confronting absence. John Witherspoon, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr., Anthony ‘A.J.’ Johnson and other performers who helped define the series have died. Chris Tucker’s return as Smokey has not been confirmed in the director announcement. Mike Epps and other past cast members have discussed the project publicly, but a studio-issued full cast list was not available for this report. Fans should treat reunion hopes as hopes until individual deals are announced.

What the California production plan confirms

The production does have a documented connection to Southern California. On October 7, the California Film Commission listed New Line’s ‘Last Friday’ among projects receiving state tax-credit awards. The state said the film planned to employ more than 180 local cast and crew members. The Hollywood Reporter described an $11.4 million credit, a planned 40-day shoot, 43 cast positions and 150 crew jobs. Those are production plans tied to an incentive award, not evidence that cameras are already rolling.

Keeping the movie in Southern California matters creatively as well as economically. Ice Cube said the story has been part of South Los Angeles’s fabric since the first film. A location can become a backdrop emptied of the people who gave it meaning; the stronger opportunity is to employ local workers and let contemporary neighborhood life shape the comedy. Whether the finished movie does that will depend on the script, casting and production choices still ahead.

The Black Angle’s view: honor the rhythm without freezing it

The Black Angle’s view: Lamont is a promising steward because he has already made a successful Black Los Angeles buddy comedy that acknowledges ‘Friday’ as an ancestor while standing on its own. The best tribute would not be a museum piece built from catchphrases. It would give returning characters room to have aged, introduce new people with their own comic lives and notice how the neighborhood around them has changed.

What remains unconfirmed

No verified release date, filming start, complete cast or official plot synopsis accompanied the director report. There is also no official ‘Last Friday’ trailer. The next meaningful updates will be a studio cast announcement, a production start or a dated release plan. Until then, Lamont’s appointment is real progress—and a reason for interest, not permission to fill every unanswered role with speculation.