Behind the scenes of the classic movie Friday

The Damn!!!!!!!!!! is iconic and classic.

https://youtube.com/shorts/73kK61ZrY4A?si=DDAo9kns3X7pMmsV

Friday was released in 1995 and it actually made Ice Cube a film star. It did the same for Chris Tucker, although he was initially rejected for the role.

The movie was filmed on a relatively fast turnaround. Ice Cube and DJ Pooh wrote the script after being inspired by Robert Townsend, who financed Hollywood Shuffle on credit cards, because, why the hell not? They were inspired by In Living Color, too and thought they could do something similar, only better. The first two scripts were trash, that's according to Ice Cube. The third one worked.

It’s hard to believe this movie almost didn’t happen. The budget was $2.5 million, so not a lot of money compared to what they normally invest in big movies . New Line Cinema ended up financing it, but Ice Cube was willing to use his own money if need be. They only had three weeks to shoot.

Chris Tucker initially messed up with his audition, the dude failed. They auditioned Tommy Davidson, Chris Rock and others. They decided to bring Chris Tucker in for another audition and he nailed it the second time around. That’s the version of Smokey we ended up with.

Friday succeeded because it didn’t really try. The movie is just a bunch of people in a neighborhood doing nothing but what the black community used to be like, still is but modernization has taken away good old days. And what happened in the film is what people do most of the time with the really deep black community. It’s not a dramatic film. I don't see a moral lesson behind it, perhaps other can. Craig sits on the porch. Smokey smokes, Deebo bullies, classic.

Nia Long and Regina King were also in the movie, relatively early in their careers. None of them knew they were making a classic.

The movie is still quoted today. People still watch it and I decided I'll watch it only on Friday. It still holds up. The jokes is still funny. The characters are still relatable. It celebrated the black community so well. Ice Cube was already out of N.W.A. by then. This film proved he could do more than rap about being mad. Sometimes movies just work out.