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Friends cast members (from left) Matthew Perry (who played Chandler Bing), Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green), David Schwimmer (Ross Geller), Courteney Cox (Monica Geller), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), and Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) will have to wait to film an HBO Max reunion special because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Coronavirus shutdown in Hollywood delays Friends reunion special planned for May streaming on HBO Max, source says

  • The original cast members of the cult TV series that ended in 2004 had been due to reunite for filming of a one-off special next week
  • Now Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry will have to wait before they can get together
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Reuters
Reuters
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The planned Friends reunion has been delayed due to disruptions in Hollywood caused by the coronavirus, an industry source said on Wednesday.

The one-off special was due to have been filmed next week on the original sound stage in Burbank, California, according to the source, and broadcast in May on the upcoming HBO Max streaming service.

But movie and TV production in Hollywood has come to a halt in the past week due to restrictions brought in to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the United States. No new date has been set for filming the special.

HBO Max declined to comment.

The Friends cast will film a one-off reunion special on the original sound stage for the NBC show. When is not known, now that production has been delayed. Photo: Reuters/Warner Bros. Television

The long-awaited unscripted show, featuring all six Friends stars – Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – was to have been a big draw for the planned HBO Max streaming service.

The hit comedy series ended in 2004 but found a new lease of life on Netflix, where it was the second most-watched show in 2018.

The cast of Friends in a still from season one of the series. A re-run on Netflix in 2018 was a huge hit. Photo: Warner Bros.
HBO Max last year secured the rights to all 10 seasons of Friends for its streaming service and the comedy series is no longer available on Netflix.

The source on Wednesday said that HBO MAX still intended to launch as planned in May. An exact date has still to be announced.

The Friends delay follows the suspension of filming of all Netflix, Disney and Universal Pictures live action movies, including Mission: Impossible 7 and The Matrix 4, as well as television shows ranging from Saturday Night Live to The Amazing Race.

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