Barbershop: The Next Cut (also known as Barbershop 3 or Barbershop 3: The Next Cut) is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver and produced by Ice Cube, Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr. It is the sequel to 2004's Barbershop 2: Back in Business and the third installment in the Barbershop film series. It stars an ensemble cast including actors Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Anthony Anderson, Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Deon Cole who return, as well as new cast members Regina Hall, J. B. Smoove, Lamorne Morris, Tyga, Common, and Nicki Minaj. It is the first film in the series in which Michael Ealy and Leonard Earl Howze did not reprise their roles as Ricky and Dinka, respectively.
The project was announced in March 2014, and Lee was hired to direct the film in February 2015. Principal photography began in Atlanta in May 2015 with some aerial shots filmed in Chicago.
Barbershop: The Next Cut was released on April 15, 2016, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed at the performances of the cast, Lee's direction, and the screenplay. It was a moderate box office success, grossing $55 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget.
Contents
Plot
Calvin loves Chicago, his hometown and the place where he has been running his barbershop business in addition to supporting his family. Unfortunately, the city has become plagued by gang violence and criminal activity as of late, and tensions have begun to rise, especially in his neighborhood. Eddie comes running into the barbershop frightened because he claims to have made a comment at some thugs over their pants sagging. He gets Calvin panicked as the door starts banging, but it is really just a delivery man bringing him his breakfast, to his annoyance.
Calvin and Angie now run the barbershop. It has a separate section for women to work, with new recruits Bree and Draya. On the men's side are Jerrod, Raja, and Rashad, new husband of Terri. Isaac and Jimmy no longer work there, but still keep in touch as customers.
JD, the estranged cousin of former barber Ricky, has given up a life of crime and now runs a food truck business. However, he openly lies about what he does with the proceeds from the food truck business, claiming that he donates the money to charity. In truth, he and his overbearing grandmother keep the money for themselves. The shop also has a boy named Anthony Clark working there while he puts his focus on school.
Rashad's son Kenny has been hanging out with Calvin's son Jalen. The boys come in one morning before school, and Calvin catches him trying to swipe two Snickers bars.
Outside members of the Gangster Disciples pull up and try to steal the boys' sneakers, until the Vice Lords from the area appear and tell the other gang to step off. The Vice Lords leader, Yummy is friendly with the boys, assuming that they are willing to join his gang, and hands each boy a $100 bill.
The men and women of the barbershop converse on the subject of modern women, with Bree arguing that good women are always losing to the "hoes," and that men complain about women having fake body parts but still lust after those same women.
Another topic of discussion is racism against black people, which Raja disagrees with on the basis that the country has a black President, to which Rashad counters that Obama, a former Chicago resident, has done nothing when news involving murdered black children have been all over the media. Still, he insists that there has never been a better time to be a black person.
Production
On March 26, 2014, Deadline Hollywood reported that MGM was in negotiations with Ice Cube to produce a third Barbershop film. On February 19, 2015, Malcolm D. Lee was set to direct the third film, while Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer were in talks to join the film. On March 25, 2015, New Line Cinema signed on with MGM to release the film, while MGM would handle the production. Principal photography began in Atlanta on May 11, 2015. On November 14, 2015, director Malcolm D. Lee said in an interview at the 7th Annual Governors Award ceremony that the title of the film had been changed from Barbershop 3 to Barbershop: The Next Cut.
Release
The film was originally scheduled for release on February 19, 2016, but was pushed back to April 15, 2016.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Jungle Book and Criminal, and was projected to gross $26–30 million from 2,661 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $7 million on its first day (including $735,000 from Thursday night previews) and went on to gross $20.2 million, finishing second at the box office behind The Jungle Book ($103.6 million).
The film had a worldwide gross of $55 million.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 92 reviews, with an average rating of 6.84/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Heartfelt, thought-provoking, and above all funny, Barbershop: The Next Cut is the rare belated sequel that more than lives up to the standard set by its predecessors." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported a 63% "definitely recommend".
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It's impressive how well director Malcolm D. Lee (working from a script by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver) balances the serious material with the bawdy, freewheeling comedy pieces."
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released digitally by Atlantic Records on April 8, 2016; it consists of hip hop and R&B music.
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