End of rumors • 16 years after the beloved series dropped off the screen all six stars of the mythical sitcom are about to unite for Special to air in May
Return to the screen. Series Stars Friends // Photo Archive: IP
After months of rumors: "Friends" unites with official announcement that Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry all signed contracts to take part in a special broadcast to be filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles Les, in the same studio where they filmed the iconic comic series for ten seasons until the last episode in May 2004. Each announced the celebratory event on his Instagram account.
According to reports in the US media, each of the players will earn a particularly impressive one-time payment of $ 3-4 million just for participation, when they will also receive producer credits.
View this post on Instagram
It's happening ... @ hbomax @ courteneycoxofficial @ lisakudrow @ mleblanc @ mattyperry4 @_schwim_
A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston) on Feb 21, 2020 at 2:04 pm PST
Jennifer Aniston confirms // from Instagram
Remember, throughout their decade together on television, the cast has always presented a unified front in renewing their contracts over and over again until they reached their peak in the early 2000s, each earning a million dollars to disband in recent seasons.
The union is made possible after a stubborn courting campaign by the HBO Max streaming service to be launched this spring in the US as part of its long-established cable network branding under Warner Media Group of Warner Bros. Studios, which owns the rights to the series originally aired on NBC television.
After the streaming wars last November in an attempt to catch up with Netflix, which has been scrambling the rules of the market in recent years, geared up with the launch of Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus of two of the world's biggest players in the entertainment industry.
Now Warner has pulled out their card with their favorite sitcom, which will have all 236 episodes exclusively aired, stealing subscribers from the first day of streaming service. By the way, the pleasure of the full exclusive series catalog for the next five years has cost the company $ 425 million.
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it's happening !! @HBOMax @_schwim_ @jenniferaniston @courteneycoxofficial @lisakudrow @ mattyperry4
A post shared by Matt LeBlanc (@mleblanc) on Feb 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm PST
Matt LeBlanc found an original way to confirm the exciting union // from Instagram
But it is important to clarify - this is not a new episode of "Friends" that will return to the screen the iconic characters of Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey and Chandler where we get an intriguing and comical glimpse of a recent plot of the hilarious gang.
This is an unspoiled special, which also includes part creators Martha Kaufman and David Crane, in what is expected to be a nostalgic transmitter of reminiscing more like what five of "Friends" stars did four years ago when they performed together on one stage in honor of former sitcom director Jimmy Burroughs (Matthew Perry is absent as he played in a play in London).
"A reunion episode can only disappoint," said Martha Kaufman last year in a Rolling Stone interview in which she denied any option for a theatrical comeback of the series, "There are all sorts of reasons, first and foremost, the series is about a time in life where your friends are your family, And the characters are no longer there.
What will happen is that we simply force all six players together but the heart and essence of the series is no longer. Second, I don't think it would do anyone any good. The series takes place very nicely as it is in reruns and many viewers continue to love it. "
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