Mark your calendars!
Everything We Know About the ‘Friends’ Reunion
Guys—they were just on a break. The Friends reunion, which has been rumored practically ever since the purple door with the yellow frame on it shut for the last time, is officially, really happening. All six Friends stars will reunite for an unscripted special for HBO Max.
Both HBO Max and the cast are being pretty hush-hush about the reunion special. Here’s every detail we know so far.
Who’s coming back: According to a press release from HBO Max, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer all committed to reprising their roles in the new special, executive produced by Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, as well as original Friends producer Kevin Bright. They were to shoot on the original Friends soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California. Ben Winston, best known for his work on The Late Late Show With James Corden, would direct as well as executive produce. What is this? All nine Friends Thanksgiving episodes rolled into one? Because we’re feeling pretty grateful.
The release date: Mark your calendars for May 27, 2021! But will have been a long and winding road to get there.
In November 2020, Perry said the Friends reunion would be taping in March 2021. “Friends reunion being rescheduled for the beginning of March,” he tweeted. “Looks like we have a busy year coming up. And that’s the way I like it!”
https://twitter.com/MatthewPerry/status/1326943949240594437
In January 2021, Lisa Kudrow confirmed they’d already started shooting some things for the reunion. “There’s different facets to it, and we already shot packages of things,” she told Rob Lowe on his podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe, according to People. “I preshot something already so we’re definitely doing it, because I already shot a little something.”
Then in March 2021, David Schwimmer gave an update: The reunion would start filming “next month,” meaning April 2021, he told Andy Cohen.
On April 11, 2021, the show’s Instagram account confirmed filming of the reunion had wrapped.
Finally, on May 13, HBO announced with a sweet teaser that “The One Where They Get Back Together” would air later in the month. In the video the six actors walked back on set arm-in-arm to the tune of the iconic theme song.
How they made it happen: It sounds as though the actors got plenty of “perks,” if you will. Variety reports that a source claims all six performers will be paid at least $2.5 million each for their work. (LET JENNIFER HAVE ANYTHING SHE WANTS.)
What we can expect: Actors, not characters. “I’ll be David. Nothing is scripted, and we are not in character,” David Schwimmer told Graham Norton in April 2021. He added, “We are all ourselves, although there is one section of it that I don’t want to give away, but we all read something.” Lost episode? Please?
There will also be guest stars! According to the HBO Max announcement, the reunion will also feature David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon, and Malala Yousafzai.
Break out the foosball table, the holiday armadillo, the traditional English trifle, and the smelly cats. This is really happening.
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Glamour
