Ice Cube, O’Shea Jackson, Jr. ‘No Plans To Commit’ To L.A. Riots Thriller

A rep for Ice Cube and his son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., have issued a statement to Deadline denying recent reports that they signed-on to star in a movie about the L.A. Riots titled April 29, 1992. The project has been in the works for many years, and Cube and his son were approached about it months ago but bowed out after script and money negotiations failed.

“Ice Cube and O’Shea Jackson Jr. have no plans to commit to this project at this time. Any speculations or rumors that suggest that they are confirmed are simply untrue,” a rep for Ice Cube and his son O’Shea Jackson, Jr., said on their behalf.

O’Shea plays his father in the N.W.A biopic, Straight Outta Compton which Ice Cube produced along with director F. Gary Gray, Dr. Dre, Scott Bernstein, and Will Packer. Cube and his son are currently in Europe preparing for the international rollout of the film, which is approaching $100 million at the domestic box office.

O’Shea Jackson, Jr. is one of Cube’s four children with Kimberly Woodruff, his wife of 23 years. After viewing the final cut of SOC, Cube reflected on his son’s performance.

“As a parent, you always are proud of the moments when you kid steps up,” Cube told Tribune News. “So I’m forever grateful that he stepped up to this challenge and portrayed me in the movie. I couldn’t picture anyone else doing it. I was totally engulfed watching him perform. See, I’ve never been to an N.W.A. concert — I’ve done an N.W.A. concert, but never had the chance as an audience member to experience it, and I was like, ‘Pretty powerful!'”

Compton executive producer Packer will produce the L.A. Riots movie with Donovan Marsh, directing a script by Sascha Penn. The plot is focused on an ex-con who tries to protect his son when his workplace is raided and looted. The project is in very early stages of development and, according to EW, no deals have been signed.

While Ice Cube has proven himself a profitable Hollywood power player with hit films such as Friday, Barbershop, and Ride Along, he told GQ that Hollywood could do more when it comes to embracing diversity.

“There’ll always be more white stories told than black stories. Hollywood was already established before we came. So we really gotta just try to get to the smart people who want to use this industry to highlight, celebrate, and magnify the human experience. Not just what white people go through. Hollywood’s got a lot of work to do to tell the human story,” Cube said.

Ice Cube is signed on to co-star alongside Charlie Day in New Line’s comedy Fist Fight, and you can next catch him and Kevin Hart on the big screen when Ride Along 2 hits theaters in January.

[Image via Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America/Zimbio]