The ‘Friends’ reunion special is expected to film in August.
The iconic show – which stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – is getting a special reboot with HBO Max. It was expected to be filmed in May, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and now it is hopeful the cast might finally get into the studio in a couple of months’ time.
Martha Kauffman, who co-created ‘Friends’, told The Wrap: "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. 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."
Meanwhile, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman, Bob Greenblatt, previously insisted a ‘Friends’ reunion won’t take place until a studio audience can be present for its taping.
Bob shared: "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. 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 bedroom … 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. 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."