According to Deadline, HBO Max is currently in negotiations to bring the stars of the popular sitcom Friends back for one more round — that is, an unscripted reunion special. While certainly not a new season of the beloved show that kickstarted in 1994 and ran for 10 seasons, fans will likely be happy to see Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry on screen together once more. Even if it’s just for a brief outing.
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The reunion will also serve to kickstart the HBO Max platform, on which the Friends library features as one of the main attractions. The streamer shelled out $425 million for the rights to the series, which had enjoyed a long run on Netflix.
Per the report, a round of tough negotiations resulted in $3 million – $4 million payouts for each of the cast members with the reunion carrying a total price tag of around $20 million. However, Warner Bros. TV is confident the special will bring in a sizable audience, particularly after Aniston shared a selfie of the cast celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the show — an image that set a Guinness World Record for the fastest to reach 1 million followers.
Matthew Perry was the first to semi break the news via a cryptic tweet with the message, “Big news coming …” that got fans buzzing.
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Series creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane are expected to have some involvement in the reunion special, though the former maintains there are no plans to do a reboot.
Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Friends had lasted over ten seasons from 1994-2004 which followed the story of six friends who lived in New York City. Even though 25 years had passed since its debut, the 62-time Emmy Award-nominated series stood the test of time and is still garnered as one of the best TV series of all time and had also become a pop culture phenomenon known to all ages.
