Friends reunion confirmed
Sitcom cast confirmed to regroup for a one-off special.
- Published by David Knox
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Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer are reuniting.
The former Friends cast were confirmed yesterday for a reunion special for WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max, which launches in the US in May.
All six will gather on the original sound stage on the Warner Bros. lot where the series was filmed, with creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane and Kevin Bright. The six stars will receive at least US$2.5 million each for participating in the special.
But the special will not see them recreate their characters in a storyline.
“Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together — we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire ‘Friends’ library,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max. “I became aware of Friends when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation. It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
Friends has remained a monster hit through streaming, with WarnerMedia recently pulling the show from Netflix ahead of its HBO Max launch, at a cost of US$425m for five years.
The news has already received millions of Likes on social media.
Source: CNN
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20 Responses
So it’s not a Friends reunion then, it’s just a cast reunion.
$2.5m each for a chat? I could understand it and would love it if they were donating it to charity, but this is just greedy. Right? Or am I being judgy? I just doubt they actually need it. This is yet another example of the rich getting richer while the poor get deeper into dire straits here in the US.
Like it or not, that’s what the market has decided they are worth as a group.
Can’t blame them for taking what they can get.
Some or all may be donating it, we don’t know. Many people prefer to keep their giving private.
No, you’re not being judgy at all. They’re already making $20 million a year in royalties. The whole thing’s revolting.
I wonder why they didn’t actually do a scripted reunion of the Friends, which is surely what fans old and new would have preferred?
Cast have always said no.
So will we get to see this?
Seems so odd if it’s just a chat on the couch, Ellen could have done that.
Still hoping that we will somehow be able to se it, not as excited though as it’s not an episode, like they could have done the one with the catch up or something
It’s a special to launch HBO Max which had Friends catalogue in US. No info on Australia.
$2.5 mill each just for a chat on the couch? Not for me.
So David, is this likely to land on Foxtel considering it’s HBO?
Unlikely, but it will depend on distributor.
HBO Max is pretty much HBO in name only.
So the actors will not be reprising their roles? If this reunion special is simply about 6 ageing actors sitting on a couch in Central Perk talking about how wonderful it was filming a series and receiving 2.5 million then count me out. Greed knows no bounds when it comes to actors and their egos when all 6 could easily have sat on a couch on any number of American talk shows.
friends was boring enough as it was – this sounds a real snooze fest
Just obscene isn’t it just for a chat on the couch, at least humour us with a couple of scenes as well, all of them returning to the apartment for some get together, then do the chat fest. As they’re all already rolling in it I wonder is that what they demanded or HBO just threw that much cash at them…
It would be the commercially negotiated fee. Seems quite reasonable given the popularity of the show in the past and today and help it would give HBO Max to launch and attract subscribers in an increasingly crowded market. They have all gone in with varying forms of success to other projects so there would be an opportunity cost to do this as well.
Comrade Sanders is not the president and probably won’t be but if he is, maybe the Game of Thrones reunion special won’t have such a high price tag.
“at a cost of US$425 for five years”
Bargain! Who negotiated that deal? No wonder they wanted $2.5m for the special!
Let’s not forget the royalties they get every year. They really don’t need to work ever again
Those royalties are massive even “Gunther” still makes a pretty penny