With Singleton’s encouragement, Cube sculpted the screenplay for what became the 1995 classic urban comedy, Friday, in which he also starred alongside then up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker. When the final receipts came back, showing that Friday earned $28 million worldwide on a $3.5 million budget, Singleton’s premonitions about Cube proved true and Cube found his new line of work. Tucker became, for a quick minute, a $20 million-per-film Hollywood star. The Friday mothership spawned two sequels, Friday and Friday After Next, helping to provide a stage for which the likes of Terry Crews, Mike Epps and Katt Williams shined (On March 9, 2011 he announced that he was making the final sequel called Last Friday).
That year, he also starred in his second collaboration with sobering John Singleton drama, Higher Learning, which received mixed reviews but enabled Omar Epps to establish his credentials as a serious actor. Cube’s acting skills improved as he starred as world-weary university student “Fudge,” a role for which he earned award nominations.
