One of TV’s most iconic shows, Friends, is due for a reunion special and an update from WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt suggests it could be filmed sooner than we think — keeping the initial indefinite delay in mind — so there’s no need to panic.
The Friends reunion special was originally scheduled to be available on HBO Max when the new streaming platform launches on 27 May along with all 10 seasons of the show. It was also due to be filmed at the original ‘Friends’ soundstage on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California. However, Covid-19 and current stay-at-home conditions put those plans on hold.
Despite the circumstances, Greenblatt gave fans a glimmer of hope on 11 May during the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, produced in partnership with the Variety Streaming Room, that production for the special will potentially be completed by the end of the summer (US season).
“We’re holding out for being able to get this special done hopefully by the end of the summer, if the stars align and hopefully we can get back into production,” Greenblatt told Variety.
“We do think there’s a value to having a big, raucous live audience to experience these six great friends coming back together and we didn’t want to just suddenly do it on a web call with, you know, six squares and people shooting from their kitchens and bedrooms.”
However, if current lockdown conditions continue, Greenblatt admitted they may not have a choice but to “go more to a virtual route, if it is delayed too long”.
“But at the moment, we’re trying to look to the future and get this thing done in a more conventional way, and I think it’s worth waiting for,” he said.
“We would have loved to have had it on [HBO Max on] Day One, but at the same time, if we can get it launched in the fall, I think it’ll be something that we can have the audience really looking forward to as well.”
The Friends special will reunite Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer, whose original series is still a source of comfort to fans around the world.
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