HBO Max’s Friends reunion may shoot this summer! In an interview with The Wrap, Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman reveals that those working behind-the-scenes on the much-anticipated reunion are hoping to shoot the special later this summer.
The reunion special, which will feature Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, was initially slated to premiere with HBO Max’s launch on May 27, but was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” Kauffman says. “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.”
While the show will be an unscripted reunion of the cast, Kauffman assures the outlet that it will include “ways of looking at this that doesn’t just feel like a mini-doc,” adding that there will be “components that are fresh and new.”
Last month, WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt told Variety that the Friends special was being put on hold until it could be filmed in front of a live studio audience.
“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 said. “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,” he added.
