The year 2021 could be The One With the Friends Reunion Special.
Matthew Perry tweeted Thursday that the HBO Max special, which has been delayed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, is set to film in March. That would likely put the show on track to air in the spring.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that while plans are still being finalized, the goal is to film the reunion special in the first part of the new year.
That timeline would put the special about a year later than its intended debut date. The reunion special was meant to be part of HBO Max’s launch in May, heralding the beloved comedy’s move from Netflix to the WarnerMedia streaming platform.
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The pandemic delayed that, and it was pushed again from a planned August filming date. The show’s six stars and HBO Max brass all want an in-person reunion on the show’s former home, Stage 24 on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, so a virtual reunion isn’t on the table.
“We haven’t all been in the same room in front of people — I mean, we have privately once many years ago but that’s it,” Lisa Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter in May. “The whole point of this is to be in the same room. That hasn’t changed. And HBO Max is being phenomenally patient and understanding.”
The reunion special received a formal green light in February of this year and was originally set to film in March. HBO Max announced in April that the highly anticipated reunion would miss the streamer’s launch. Production on the special shut down March 18, joining hundreds of other film and TV shoots across the globe to do so.
Dozens of shows have since gotten up and running again, all adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. As case counts rise again, however, a number of productions have had to suspend work after team members test positive for the novel coronavirus.
See Perry’s tweet below.
Friends reunion being rescheduled for the beginning of March. Looks like we have a busy year coming up. And that's the way I like it!
— matthew perry (@MatthewPerry) November 12, 2020
