Finally. Finally! After months of increasingly fervent speculation (and that was just from me), HBO Max and the stars of Friends confirmed on Friday afternoon that, yes, a reunion special is happening. It’s an “exclusive untitled scripted special,” but I’m too busy crying tears of joy to try to parse out that language. The point is: It’s happening! It’s happening! And it’s happening soon: The special will debut in May. Yes, this May.
Jennifer Aniston posted a photo of the six stars on Twitter, writing “It’s happening…” and tagged HBO Max. Courtney Cox and the rest of their costars shared the same post at the same moment.
According to Variety, which broke the news, each star will get about $2.5 million for the special. The show’s executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane will return to work on the project, and each of the six main cast members will executive produce as well. The reason it’ll debut in May is because that’s when HBO Max will kick off, and the streaming service is aiming to incentivize new subscribers with news of a Friends reunion.
The news also explains why Matthew Perry joined Instagram just a week ago with a post that was, of course, a Friends reference. “This is how thrilled I am to finally be on Instagram. So, here we go…” he wrote.
Friends left Netflix at the end of 2019, and won’t be available on another streaming service until HBO Max launches. During these dark and uncertain times, sales of Friends episodes (both digital and on DVD) have “tripled,” per Variety.
In a statement, the chief content officer at HBO Max, Kevin Reilly, said: “Guess you could call this the one where they all got back together—we are reuniting with David, Jennifer, Courteney, Matt, Lisa, and Matthew for an HBO Max special that will be programmed alongside the entire ‘Friends’ library.” He added: “It taps into an era when friends—and audiences—gathered together in real time and we think this reunion special will capture that spirit, uniting original and new fans.”
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