'Friends' reunion aiming to come out at the end of the summer according to HBO Max boss
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The highly anticipated "Friends" reunion that was pushed back due to the coronavirus may finally grace fans’ screens by the end of the summer.
Like countless ongoing film and TV productions, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the unscripted "Friends" reunion being produced for HBO Max to be pushed back. As a result, it will not launch with the new streaming platform on May 27 as previously expected.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Speaking to Variety at the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt explained that the current goal is to complete the reunion at the end of the summer. He explained that the hope is to ride out the pandemic so that the reunion can happen safely with a live audience rather than forcing it to go digital, like so many other entertainment projects have.
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The entire 'Friends' cast will reunite for a reunion special at HBO Max. (Warner Bros. Television)
"At first we thought, shows will be delayed for a month or two at the most, and now it seems like it’s going to be far longer than that," Greenblatt explained Monday. "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. 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, he noted that if the current stay-at-home directive continues indefinitely, they will explore a digital option for the reunion.
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"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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 'Friends' reunion has been pushed back due to the coronavirus. (Jon Ragel/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
The cast of the beloved 1990s sitcom Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, all signed on to appear and executive produce the special together. However, HBO Max revealed in April that it had been pushed back.
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Fans of the show, which lasted for 10 seasons, have been clamoring for a reunion ever since it took its final bow in 2004. Unfortunately, the cast won’t be returning in character. Instead, they’ll be reuniting for the first time since the finale for a discussion about the show to coincide with the new streaming platform landing all 236 episodes of the sitcom.