It’s official.
The cast of “Friends” is reuniting on HBO Max.
WarnerMedia announced Friday that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer are starring in a reunion special for an upcoming streaming service that launches in May.
The stars of the all-time hit NBC sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons, will meet up once again for the special to commemorate the show from the series’ original sound stage in Warner Bros. The long-rumored and most-anticipated special will be available at launch.
“Friends” is considered one of the most buzzworthy shows for HBO Max. The comedy, which first aired in 1994, features the lives and hang-ups of a bunch of coffee-loving New Yorkers. It was one of the most loved and most popular sitcoms in TV history that have gained a new life from streaming services like Netflix.
The TV studio of WarnerMedia owns the rights to “Friends” and had licensed the show to the streaming service for years. But WarnerMedia pulled the show out from the service to make it exclusive to HBO Max.
A report from The Wall Street Journal in July stated that HBO Max is paying $425 million to carry the series for another five years.
Kevin Reilly, the chief content officer for HBO MAX said in a statement
“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. It taps into an era when friends – and audiences – gathered together in real-time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
He added:
“It taps into an era when friends — and audiences — gathered together in real-time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
“Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together.”
According to reports, Ben Winston will direct the said special and executive produce alongside “Friends” executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television and Fulwell 73 Productions are the people behind the program. Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer are also executive producing the special, with Emma Conway and James Longman on board as co-executive producers.