Turns out, there’s more story to tell!
Ice Cube and Kevin Hart may dust off their bickering buddy act now that “Ride Along 3” is once again in early development at Universal. Tim Story, the director of the two previous instalments in the cop comedy franchise, and Will Packer, the producer, are also back for more. Before you reserve your ticket, it’s worth noting that all of these players have been trying to get another “Ride Along” off the ground for nearly a decade without success.
That could change. The big news, which Variety has confirmed, is that Daniel Gold, the writer of the Netflix/CBC comedy series “Workin’ Moms,” has been hired to write the screenplay.
It makes sense that Universal, the studio behind the “Ride Along” films, would want to revive the hugely successful series. “Ride Along” grossed $155 million when it debuted in 2014, while “Ride Along 2” earned $125 million when it hit theaters in 2016. And Hart and Cube clearly had chemistry. So what’s behind the delay? The answer may be that big-screen comedies have fallen out of favor in recent years. Major studios have largely ceded that ground to Netflix and Prime Video, which have invested more heavily in the genre (that’s why broad comedies from the likes of Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Hart now routinely debut on streaming).
For those who may be hazy on the plot of the “Ride Along” films, they follow a security guard who is desperate to prove himself to his girlfriend’s police officer big brother.
Story and Hart are about to reunite on the upcoming Netflix comedy “72 Hours.” Packer produced “You, Me & Tuscany,” a rom-com starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page for Universal, which premiered this weekend. And Cube recently starred in “War of the Worlds,” as well as played himself in last winter’s “Anaconda” reboot.
Universal declined to comment on this report.
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From Variety US