A long road for this project, which we first reported on in 2009, on the old S&A site.

As a recap… amongst the many projects Ice Cube has been attached to in some capacity over the years, both on the big and small screens, is this one, titled, Ride Along, a feature film that was originally set up at Warner Bros, in which Cube was to star in as a rogue cop who tries to break off his sister's engagement to an upper-crust white psychiatrist, by inviting his future brother-in-law on a ride-along.

The project, initially penned by Greg Coolidge, had already gone through several rewrites at the time, at the hands of different screenwriters, and at the time of our last post on it, was in the hands of relative newcomer, Jason Mantzoukas. 

Fast-forward 3 years later to today, with the announcement that Universal Pictures has picked up Ride Along out of turnaround from New Line (a Warner Bros subsidiary), and is apparently fast-tracking the project, aiming for an October production start, with Ice Cube still starring, but with some new names attached in front and behind the camera.

First, Kevin Hart, who's really hot right now, as his name has come up for a handful of projects since Think Like A Man's release; he'll co-star with Cube as "a second grade teacher who is ready to get married, but first he must survive a Training Day-like ride along experience with her tough cop brother, who doesn’t want the marriage to happen and tries to scare off the suitor."

So the "race play" is officially gone, with the suitor now a black man.

Second, also fresh off the success of Think Like A Man, Tim Story will direct Ride Along.

And third, also riding high from the success of Think Like A Man, producer Will Packer will co-produce the project via his Rainforest Films banner with Ice Cube's Cube Vision, and Matt Alvarez's LBI Entertainment.

Call it the Think Like A Man effect… in fact, let me just officially coin that term right now: "The Think Like A Man Effect." There… it's official 🙂

The script for Ride Along will once again get another rewrite from Matt Manfredi & Phil Hay.

Universal is obviously hoping to mimick the success Packer and company had with Think Like A Man – or at least some of that success (low budget, high return).

Let's see who gets cast as the bride – will it also be influenced by the Think Like A Man Effect?