The trailer for Barbershop: The Next Cut picks up some years after the second entry in the series, during which time the threat of gentrification has receded, and the long-standing concern of gang violence has reared its head again. Calvin (Ice Cube) and his wife Angie (Regina Hall) seem to be faring well in their newly established, co-ed grooming enterprise. Pillar of the community and shop fixture Eddie (Cedric The Entertainer) is still around to tell his coworkers, who are now played by Nicki Minaj and Common, how and when they’ve gone astray.
But even though business is finally good, they now have to contend with a rise in neighborhood violence. Rather than ditch their South Side community for the suburbs, it looks like Calvin and his crew will organize a unity concert of some kind (which is a smart move given that they have four well-known rappers in the cast). This grassroots approach, along with the setting and theme, will probably draw some comparisons with Chi-Raq—that is, if people are still buzzing about Spike Lee’s updated Lysistrata when The Next Cut premieres next year.
Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man Holiday) directed with a script from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver (Survivor’s Remorse). Several players from the previous films have returned, including Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Anthony Anderson, whose character appears to have turned his life around after going to prison for stealing an ATM. Barbershop: The Next Cut hits theaters April 15, 2016.