‘Friends’ Reunion Special Gets Tentative Summer Filming Date

Friends fans have been clamoring for this special for ages. Everybody just wants to hear one more song from Phoebe or one more joke from Chandler. However, more and more waiting has ensued. The initial taping date of the reunion special has been delayed indefinitely with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down studios all over Hollywood. But, now, there is hope. Taping of the Friends reunion special for HBO Max will potentially be completed by the end of the summer, said WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt during the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit.

Originally set to be part of the HBO Max’s launch on May 27, the reunion special was set to film at Studio 24 on the Warner Bros. Studio Lot in Burbank aka the original Friends set. But now, it seems that a fall release date might be more possible.

“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 told Variety. “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.”

If the current stay-at-home conditions do continue longer than they’ve anticipated, Greenblatt hasn’t ruled out following in the steps of other shows. A “virtual” reunion isn’t off the table “if it is delayed too long,” he said.

“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 added. “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.”

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer are all set to reunite for the unscripted reunion. They’re also all executive producing the special. Ben Winston is also set to direct the Friends special.