Ice Cube To Play Scrooge In New ‘Christmas Carol’ Movie

Ice Cube, known for his trademark scowl, will put his famous frown to good use as Ebenezer Scrooge in an upcoming reboot of the classic A Christmas Carol film. The new movie will be simply known as Humbug.

Time reports that Ice Cube, 46, will take on a new version of the infamous Scrooge who, although differs in career choice than the original Scrooge, will still face the same repercussions. The rapper and actor will portray a greedy real estate mogul instead of a London-based money lender as in the original story, but similar to the first version, Ice Cube will face the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future in a new retelling of the holiday story.

Numerous movie studios wanted Humbug, including Disney, MGM, and New Line, but Universal Pictures ultimately won the bidding war for the movie, which is rumored to have gone for seven figures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfwrxdlPh2A

The film will be directed by Tim Story, who brought us Think Like a Man, Ride Along, and the upcoming Ride Along 2, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. Todd R. Jones and Earl Richey Jones wrote the script, and moviegoers can expect it to hit theaters at some point in 2017.

Meanwhile, Ice Cube is enjoying the success of Straight Outta Compton, a film he produced, based on the true story of N.W.A. Although Ice Cube didn’t star in the movie, his son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., who bares a strong resemblance to his father, took on the role as a young Ice Cube. His dad admits to working Jackson, Jr. as hard as possible while making the film, and it definitely paid off. Not only did the movie lead at the box office during its opening weekend, making $56.1 million, but Ice Cube also reflected that the movie seemed so real that he felt he went back in time.

“What’s so magical about this movie is that I fall into the characters. I’m looking at Ice Cube, at Eazy-E, at Dr. Dre—I don’t feel like I’m looking at actors. Being on the movie set was like being in Back to the Future, where you think you’re gonna change history if you walk around the corner at the wrong time.”

Along with Ride Along 2 and Humbug, Ice Cube is set to star in the upcoming film Barbershop 3, the third installment in the Barbershop film series, directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film is slated for release on April 15, 2016.

[Photos Courtesy of Kevin Winter/Getty Images & Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]