‘Friends’ Reunion Special May Go Virtual If Coronavirus Lockdown Continues To Delay It

The “Friends” reunion special might go virtual if the coronavirus lockdown would be extended and filming would be further delayed.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer are all set to reunite for the upcoming reunion special of their hit NBC sitcom “Friends.” They were supposed to film for the unscripted special in May, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Bob Greenblatt, Warner Media Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman, they are aiming to finish the production by the end of summer.

“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” Geenblatt told Variety on Monday (May 11).

“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.”

However, Greenblatt also recognized the possibility of an extended quarantine. If the situation continues, he added that the anticipated “Friends” reunion special “may go more to a virtual route, if it is delayed too long.”

However, at present, they are doing their best to still push through with their original plan. They wanted to get it done in a more conventional way and he believes that it will be worth waiting.

“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,” Greenblatt added.

According to an insider, the six stars are receiving between $2.25 million to $2.5 million each for the reunion. The reunion special took time to be confirmed because Warner Bros. and the cast had a lengthy negotiation due to the “eight-figure gap” between the salary demanded by the cast and what the studio was willing to shell out.