Ice Cube and Warner Bros. Bicker Over the Rights and Creative Direction of the Next ‘Friday’ Movie

It may take a couple more “Fridays” in order to get to the last “Friday” of the movie franchise that O’Shea Jackson, better known as Ice Cube, has brought to audiences over the years.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ice Cube and Warner Bros. are at odds over the creative direction of what would be the latest and possibly the last sequel to the Friday franchise. Although the movie isn’t close to being done, let alone, in production, the two sides are clashing over creative direction and one side is alleging that it has to do with racism.

For more than two decades, movies that Ice Cube has either starred, co-starred in, or produced have grossed more than $2 billion at the box office. Now, Ice Cube is requesting that Warner Bros., which is owned by AT&T Inc., surrender its rights to the “Friday” franchise and to two other movies he produced—“All About the Benjamins” and “The Players Club,” based on correspondence his attorneys have sent to the studio.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has responded by calling the demand “extortionate,” stating that it won’t release rights to the franchise or any other movies that Ice Cube had been involved in, according to the correspondence.

Racism has also been mentioned in the ongoing conversations. In one letter, Ice Cube’s representative had written that the projects that he has done for the studio “are habitually underfunded in comparison with projects featuring white casts and creative teams.” It also points out that other Ice Cube films weren’t well supported.

Warner Bros. denies the accusations of bias and in a letter sent back in May to Ice Cube’s lawyer Bryan Freedman, the studio said the complaints are “grounded in a libelous set of knowing falsehoods.”

“We strongly disagree with any claims of discriminatory treatment, and stand by our ongoing and proven commitment to support diverse voices and storytellers and will continue to do so as we move forward,” a Warner Bros. spokeswoman said.