Nearly 30 years after its theatrical release, Friday, one of the most iconic ‘90s comedies, is now easier than ever to watch. Written by Ice Cube and directed by F. Gary Gray, the film is now streaming on Netflix alongside its 2000 sequel, Next Friday.
Both films hit the Netflix library on March 1 and are currently climbing the streaming charts in the U.S., beating out more recent hits to take the No. 8 and No. 10 spots on the Top 10 Movies list. They rank alongside other favorites like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (No. 7) and Despicable Me 4 (No. 3), as well as the newly released Netflix originals Plankton: The Movie (No. 5) and The Electric State (No. 1).
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Hitting theaters on April 26, 1995, Friday centers around unemployed friends Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker) on one eventful Friday when they find themselves indebted to a local drug dealer in South Central Los Angeles. The film also stars Nia Long, Regina King, Bernie Mac, and John Witherspoon.
Friday was largely inspired by Ice Cube’s real-life, the rapper telling Consequence in 2015, “everything that happened in Friday has happened on my street, at one point or another. These characters, and these situations, are real and that’s why they play. That’s why they work and people respond to them.”
The movie was a massive hit, not only grossing $27 million worldwide, but also amassing a cult following. Friday frequently ranks among the best comedies from the ‘90s, and the film holds a 77% critics score and 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
With its success, Friday spawned two sequels, 2000s Next Friday and 2002’s Friday After Next, the latter of which is available to stream on The Roku Channel and available to rent on platforms such as Prime Video and Fandango at Home. A fourth installment in the franchise was greenlit in 2017, with Ice Cube teasing in an interview with Flavor Flav’s Flavor of the Week on SiriusXM back in June that after years in limbo, “We’re working on it. We finally got some traction with Warner Bros.” The rapper-turned-actor added, “They finally came to their senses. So hopefully we can get in the process of getting that movie made.” Further information on the upcoming film isn’t available at this time.
Fans can stream both Friday and Next Friday on Netflix now.
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