They’re set to start shooting the long-awaited Friends reunion special next month.
‘There are going to be very strict guidelines and that includes no live audiences,’ one source told the outlet.
Strings attached: There will be some stringent conditions for the Friends reunions special given the post COVID-19 world in which we’re now all living, according to The Mirror’s sources on Saturday
They added that, ‘all of the cast will be tested for Covid-19, and asked to quarantine in isolation after they’ve had the tests.’
The special -which the Mirror says will ‘be a mix of interviews and sketches’ is still set start shooting in August.
Marta Kauffman, the co-creator of the TV series which aired from 1994 until 2004, told The Wrap on Wednesday that is the plan so far.
The reunion, which will bring together Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc was supposed to debut on HBO Max in May but was held back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The day the laughter died: ‘There are going to be very strict guidelines and that includes no live audiences,’ one source told the outlet
A date is close: The long-awaited Friends reunion special may start shooting in August
She knows the details: Marta Kauffman, a writer and producer of the long-running TV series which aired from 1994 until 2004, told The Wrap on Wednesday that is the plan so far. Seen in 2019 in Beverly Hills
‘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 said.
This comes after WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer chairman Bob Greenblatt said in May: ‘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.’
Marta will be on the reunion with her Friends co-creator David Krane, it has been reported.
Still close: ‘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 said. Courteney, Jennifer and Lisa seen in November 2019
The reunion will be filmed on the original series’ Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to reveal in November that a reunion special is happening at HBO Max.
Each of the show’s main stars are returning with series creators Crane and Kauffman.
Ready to revisit the past: The reunion will be filmed on the original series’ Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank. Seen during season one
The deals were finalized and the reunion special was officially announced in late February, confirming the cast will reunite for an, ‘untitled unscripted special.’
The special was supposed to help kick off the HBO Max streaming service when it launched in May.
The streaming service is running all 236 episodes of Friends through the original sitcom’s iconic 10-season run.
Not happy with the pandemic: Aniston shared this aggressive post in May where she told the virus to f off
WarnerMedia reportedly shelled out a whopping $425 million over five years to air the original series, outbidding Netflix.
Netflix had previously shelled out between $80 million and $100 million for the Friends streaming rights just in 2019 alone.
Nielsen had previously reported that Friends was among the most-watched shows on Netflix, though they don’t release any official viewership data.