Entertainment Movies Ice Cube Says Chris Tucker Turned Down $12M for Role in 'Friday' Sequel Due to 'Religious Reasons' Chris Tucker recently revealed "one of the reasons" why he didn't do Next Friday after the success of 1995's Friday "was because of the weed" By Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose is an Associate Editor on the Movies team at PEOPLE. He has written about entertainment and breaking news for over five years. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 29, 2021 06:37PM EST Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty; George Pimentel/WireImage Ice Cube claims his Friday costar Chris Tucker turned down $12 million to reprise his role in the sequel. The duo's 1995 comedy was a hit, spawning two sequels: 2000's Next Friday and 2002's Friday After Next. Tucker, however, did not return to play Smokey in the subsequent films because of what Ice Cube, who was also a producer on the movies, said were "religious reasons." "We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons. He didn't want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore," tweeted the rapper/actor, 52, when someone asked Wednesday whether Tucker "quit over money" reasons. A rep for Tucker did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Last month, Tucker, 50, reflected on his decision to back out from the subsequent sequels. Chris Tucker Reveals Why He Never Returned to the Friday Franchise shutterstock "Back then, I gotta tell you, one of the reasons why I didn't do the second one was because of the weed," Tucker said in an interview with All Urban Central. "Because I said, man, that movie became a phenomenon. I don't want everybody smoking weed — and I never really told people this because I kind of forgot about it, but it was one of the reasons why I didn't do it. Because I said, 'I don't wanna represent everybody smoking weed.'" "And that's one of the reasons why I said 'nah.' I didn't wanna keep doing that character. It probably was good for me because it kept me moving to the next phase and next movies," Tucker added. He also mentioned other reasons for his decision not to go back to Friday, saying, "I never thought about doing sequels. I always wanted to do a good job and keep moving to the next movie." Tucker starred in three Rush Hour movies with costar Jackie Chan, plus films like 1997's The Fifth Element and 2012's Silver Linings Playbook. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Regarding the idea of coming back for a long-rumored fourth Friday movie, Tucker said he would "definitely consider it." "I always said — because I know my fans love the movies so much [and] they always bring it up — I said, well, if they come to me with a great script and a great idea, I'd definitely consider it," he said. "But it's been so long ago and that character became such a great character. I don't wanna mess it up."