While it really hasn’t been anyone’s day, week, month and especially year, “Friends” fans have been particularly patient with the much-delayed reunion special.
Well, the wait is officially over. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer will be on your TV screens once again on May 27, HBO Max announced in a news release on Thursday.
The streaming service also dropped a first look at the reunion that features all six “Friends” walking arm-in-arm together through the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California, as an instrumental version of the show’s theme song plays in the background.
Each of the six stars shared the news in coordinated posts on Instagram.
“Could we BE any more excited?!” Aniston wrote alongside the trailer, with Cox adding in her own post: “This kind of thing doesn’t happen every year, or even every 10, or 15 years. I feel so blessed to have had a chance to reunite with my Friends... and it was better than ever.”
Schwimmer joked that he “had a blast with the cast and a solid nap with LeBlanc,” who wrote that it was “so great to see everyone.” Kudrow, meanwhile, dubbed the special as “The one with us finally getting together.” And Perry kept it short and sweet, exclaiming: “We’re back!”
Joining the cast members, who haven’t been together on screen since the NBC sitcom wrapped 17 years ago will be a slew of famous faces, super fans and even some past guest stars, including Reese Witherspoon, Tom Selleck, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler and Malala Yousafzai.
The reunion special will be directed by Ben Winston, who is executive producing alongside Kevin Bright and “Friends” creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
First announced back in February 2020, the “real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show,” as HBO describes it, was set to air in May to coincide with the launch of the HBO Max. The special was then pushed back twice due to COVID-related production delays before landing on its current release date.
The cast has remained tight-lipped about what we actually might see at the get-together. Cox recently described the experience as “unbelievable” and “emotional,” and teased that many surprises are in store.
Watch the trailer below.
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