Ice Cube took to Twitter on December 29, 2021, to hit back at critics who accused him of underpaying actors in the Friday movie franchise. But, how much did he make from it?
The American actor and filmmaker also clarified on Twitter that Chris Tucker’s exit from the film franchise had nothing to do with the pay and that the latter made the decision owing to “religious reasons“.
Rapper refutes underpay accusations
Ice’s tweet came as a response to Faizon Love’s claim that he didn’t reprise his role as Big Worm after making only $2,500 in the original Friday movie.
Responding to this, Ice tweeted, “I didn’t rob no f*****n body. The 1995 Friday movie cost $2.3m to make. Shot it in 20 days. Fazion worked 1 day, maybe 2.”
“All the actors got paid scale to do the movie. They could’ve simple said “No” but they didn’t. So miss me with that s**t…,” it read further.
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How much did Ice Cube get paid for Friday?
Similar to Faizon, another actor from Friday, John Witherspoon, also spoke about his pay for the movie in a separate interview with VLAD TV.
During his conversation, he revealed that $5,000 was the “standard” rate for all actors.
Ice starred in the film and also wrote it along with DJ Pooh. The original made around $27.4 million at the box office.
John further added that Ice and Pooh made money from film returns. As per the industry standards, a screenwriter is expected to get anywhere between 2% and 3% of the production budget.
The first movie in the franchise was made with a budget of $3.5 million, which means, Ice would have received an additional payment of $100,000 approximately along with his fee for acting. The returns from the film would have added further to his income. The same would be applicable for the rest of the installments.
However, the cast was being offered four times their initial pay for Next Friday, according to John.
And, a report by Indie Wire suggests that Ice is being paid $11 million for Last Friday, the fourth film in the franchise. The movie is slated for a 2022 release.
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A look at his net worth
Ice has an estimated net worth of $160 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Apart from being a famous rapper, Ice has established himself as a successful filmmaker, which has significantly added to his fortune.
He has acted, written, and produced a number of films. He’s best known for working in films such as Barber Shop The Next Cut, Ride Along and Are we Done Yet among others.