# Friday After Next
**Friday After Next** is a 2002 American comedy film, the third entry in the *Friday* series, in which cousins Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Day-Day ([Mike Epps](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-epps)) spend [Christmas Eve](https://www.edgepedia.org/christmas-eve) trying to recover rent money stolen by a burglar dressed as [Santa Claus](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-claus). It was written and co-produced by Ice Cube, directed by Marcus Raboy in his feature directing debut, and released by New Line Cinema on November 22, 2002.[1](https://icecube.com/filmography/friday-after-next/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 22, 2002, New Line Cinema; Los Angeles and New York openings that day[1](https://icecube.com/filmography/friday-after-next/) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392) |
| Director / writer | Marcus Raboy, a music video director making his feature directing debut; screenplay by Ice Cube[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392) |
| Producers | Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez, through Cube Vision[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392) |
| Box office | $33,253,609 domestic on a $13,010,767 opening weekend in 1,621 theaters[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchise/fr3477573381/) |
| Budget | $20 million per the Los Angeles Times; a later City of Los Angeles document lists $10 million[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html) • [5](https://cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2017/17-0541_misc_1_05-15-2017.pdf) |
| Ratings | Metascore 35 (generally unfavorable); Rotten Tomatoes 25% Tomatometer, 75% audience score; IMDb 5.8/10 from about 33,000 users[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/friday-after-next/critic-reviews/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/friday_after_next) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293815/ratings/) |
| Rating / runtime | Rated R for language, drug use, and sexual references; 85 minutes per the AFI catalog[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392) • [9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/friday-after-next) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story takes place on December 24. Craig and Day-Day, who have moved out of their parents' homes into an apartment together, are asleep when a bogus neighborhood Santa Claus ([Rickey Smiley](https://www.edgepedia.org/rickey-smiley)) breaks in and robs them, taking their Christmas presents and their stereo, which held the rent money hidden in the speaker cabinets.[1](https://icecube.com/filmography/friday-after-next/) • [9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/friday-after-next)
Desperate to make rent and buy Christmas presents, the two take jobs as security guards at a local strip mall, armed only with police whistles. Their fathers, Mr. Jones ([John Witherspoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-witherspoon)) and Uncle Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry), have gone into business there running a barbecue joint. Craig pursues Donna (K.D. Aubert), a saleswoman at the Pimp N' Ho's Boutique, while keeping order at Holy Moly's Doughnut Shop; Day-Day tries to turn himself into a master of crime-fighting, causing more problems than he solves.[1](https://icecube.com/filmography/friday-after-next/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html) Their landlady and her son, just out of prison, demand the rent money by the end of the day, and the cousins also hold a rent party as they try to track down the thief.[9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/friday-after-next)
The supporting cast includes [Clifton Powell](https://www.edgepedia.org/clifton-powell) as Pinky, Terry Crews as Damon, Katt Williams as Money Mike, Sommore as Cookie, and [Anna Maria Horsford](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-maria-horsford) as Mrs. Jones.[10](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/friday-after-next)
### Place in the franchise
*Friday After Next* followed *Friday* (1995) and *Next Friday* (2000), all developed by [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema) and all starring Ice Cube, who co-wrote the first film and has solo screenplay credits on the two sequels. Its $33.3 million domestic gross ranked second in the trilogy at the time, behind *Next Friday*'s $57.3 million and ahead of the original's $27.5 million.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchise/fr3477573381/) • [12](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/global/ice-cube-new-friday-movie-21379/) Warner Bros. later purchased New Line, gaining control of the franchise rights.[12](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/global/ice-cube-new-friday-movie-21379/)
For more than two decades it remained the final theatrical entry. In April 2025, Ice Cube reached a deal with Warner Bros. and New Line to write and star in a fourth film, *Last Friday*, the first in the series in over 20 years; the agreement also covered his directing it.[12](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/global/ice-cube-new-friday-movie-21379/) Development of a fourth film had been discussed since roughly 2010, and Warner Bros. had rejected two earlier scripts from Cube, including one in which Craig and Day-Day go to jail for selling marijuana.[13](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2547311/why-ice-cubes-last-friday-has-been-stalled-out-for-the-past-decade) • [14](https://www.okayplayer.com/ice-cube-says-that-warner-bros-turned-down-two-new-friday-four-scripts/511979)
## Production
When New Line Cinema asked Ice Cube for a third *Friday* installment to release around the holidays, he wrote the holidays into the script. As with the earlier *Friday* films and the same year's *Barbershop* and *All About the Benjamins*, Cube recruited a music video director, Marcus Raboy, who had worked with [Mary J. Blige](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-j-blige), for his feature directing debut.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html)
With a $20-million budget, the film was shot the previous winter in San Pedro and [Torrance, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/torrance-california), where the production bought out a strip mall for six weeks to refashion it as the domain of Craig and Day-Day.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html) Raboy said in a November 2002 interview that the production did two full rewrites during pre-production and kept rewriting and refining on set, adding improvisation.[11](https://www.blackfilm.com/20021115/features/marcusraboy.shtml) The AFI catalog credits Glen MacPherson as cinematographer, Suzanne Hines as editor, and lists the literary source as characters created by Ice Cube and [DJ Pooh](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-pooh).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to negative. The film scored 35 on Metacritic, with 4 of 24 reviews positive, 10 mixed, and 10 negative.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/friday-after-next/critic-reviews/) Rotten Tomatoes recorded 25% on the Tomatometer from 71 reviews against a 75% audience score.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/friday_after_next) Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "fast and raunchy" and praised its "gleeful low-down humor"; Roger Ebert gave it 50 in the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times), writing that laughs could be found elsewhere; Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald called it the thinnest and least funny installment of the series.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/friday-after-next/critic-reviews/)
Audience ratings have been warmer than the critics': IMDb users rate it 5.8/10 from about 33,000 votes, and the film has an enduring seasonal following, with viewers treating it as a Christmas movie.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293815/ratings/) Common Sense Media's retrospective review called it a "tired trilogy closer" and flagged its stereotypes and homophobic jokes as material that has not aged well.[9](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/friday-after-next)
## References
1. [Friday After Next, Ice Cube filmography](https://icecube.com/filmography/friday-after-next/)
2. [Seeking another 'Friday' payday, Los Angeles Times (November 17, 2002)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-17-ca-chautard17-story.html)
3. [Friday After Next (2002), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62392)
4. [Franchise: Friday, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchise/fr3477573381/)
5. [Ice Cube filmography and box office figures, City of Los Angeles document](https://cityclerk.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2017/17-0541_misc_1_05-15-2017.pdf)
6. [Friday After Next critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/friday-after-next/critic-reviews/)
7. [Friday After Next, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/friday_after_next)
8. [Friday After Next (2002) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293815/ratings/)
9. [Friday After Next Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/friday-after-next)
10. [Friday After Next, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/friday-after-next)
11. [Friday After Next: One on One with Marcus Raboy, blackfilm.com (November 2002)](https://www.blackfilm.com/20021115/features/marcusraboy.shtml)
12. [Ice Cube Closes Deal for New 'Friday' Movie at Warner Bros. and New Line, Variety (April 3, 2025)](https://au.variety.com/2025/film/global/ice-cube-new-friday-movie-21379/)
13. [Why Ice Cube's Last Friday Has Been Stalled Out, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2547311/why-ice-cubes-last-friday-has-been-stalled-out-for-the-past-decade)
14. [Ice Cube Says That Warner Bros. Turned Down Two New 'Friday' Scripts, Okayplayer](https://www.okayplayer.com/ice-cube-says-that-warner-bros-turned-down-two-new-friday-four-scripts/511979)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released in the 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license