by Viola C. Malone
Special To The Times
“Ride Along” starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart is one of the biggest box office hits of 2014.
The movie follows fast-talking, jumpy security guard Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) on his ride along adventures with his potential brother-in-law James Payton (Ice Cube), an APD detective, to prove himself worthy of marrying James’s sister.
The movie is out now on DVD and Blu-ray. So what more can you expect from this box office hit that you did not see in theatres?
“Just a little more,” says Ice Cube, “We had a hard ending in the movie. This is just extra stuff that we shot. We had the cookout stuff on the movie ending but this is what we shot before the cookout stuff was in there.”
With an alternate ending and tons of extra footage, that could leave one wondering about all of the challenges and difficulties faced to get this production out. It may be hard for some to believe that a film jam-packed with action and actual comedy with two big stars with big personalities was created with ease, but Cube says there really were no challenges with him and Kevin.
“We had what I call instant chemistry. We was on the same page and on the top of our game from day one. That’s rare. You don’t usually get that. You usually take days, scenes to warm up. That [chemistry] made everything roll smoothly.”
The real challenge of this movie for Hart and Cube, believe-it-or-not, was to include as much action as comedy. Cube says the “comedy was so good” that they had to shoot more action after they finished the movie. If you were one of the ones who enjoyed the movie, saw it more than once and plan on getting the DVD be sure to keep your ears and eyes open for the sequel as it is currently in the works.
That isn’t the only thing Cube has been putting his energy into. He has his hands full with a host of projects he’s working on from film sequels to music projects. The NWA film that we’ve all been hearing buzz about is set for production in the near future.
“I’m a producer, that’s coming out through Cube Vision. (It will be) directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job). We are in full production on it as far as pre-production; getting the script together, casting, its gon’ be shot right here in LA. Hopefully we start production in July. Still casting, whoever fits the mold.”
On the music side of things Ice Cube is back in the studio once more working on a project titled “Everything’s Corrupt” due out this summer. Aside from that there is still talk about a possible sequel to Friday and “22 Jump Street” sequel to “21 Jump Street” will be out June 13th. It looks like it’s going to be a hot summer for Cube.
Be sure to get the “Ride Along” DVD/Blu-ray version.
