Is the break over? Soon!
Friends cocreator Marta Kauffman gave an update to the highly-anticipated reunion special, which was originally set to be released in May when HBO Max debuted. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, filming was pushed back.
“We are hoping to be able to shoot in August, if all is well and there is no early second wave and the studio is open,” the Grace & Frankie creator, 63, told The Wrap of the reunion, which will include Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc. Kauffman and cocreator David Krane will produce and be featured in the TV event as well.
The special is still set to film on the original series’ Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank.
“If everything is in place and we understand all the protocols and we can still make a good show, we’ll be shooting it some time, mid-to-late August,” she added.
The reunion was announced by the streaming platform in February.
“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,” HBO Max Chief Content Officer Kevin Reilly said in a statement at the time. “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.”
The special will be the first time all six stars are on stage together since the series wrapped in 2004. In 2016, the group reunited to honor TV director James Burrows, but Perry, 50, had a prior engagement and could not make it.
The cast will reportedly make around $2.5 million each for the special, according to Variety. Wall Street Journal revealed that they were originally offered $1 million each, the same amount they made per episode in the final two seasons of the original show, but they all turned it down.
