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'Friends' reunion special in limbo as HBO Max boss reveals negotiation woes

'Friends' reunion special may not go ahead, says HBO Max Chief Kevin Reilly (Warner Bros. Television Distribution)
'Friends' reunion special may not go ahead, says HBO Max Chief Kevin Reilly (Warner Bros. Television Distribution)

Friends fans, looks like it may not be your day, your week, your month or even your year after all has HBO Max has revealed that its planned reunion special has been stalled due to negotiation woes.

During the streaming platform’s panel at the Television Critics Association event this week, Chief Creative Officer Kevin Reilly said: “There is interest all around and yet we can’t get the interested all alighted to push the button on it.”

Read more: Tom Hanks was first choice to play Sandy in 'Friends'

Most disappointingly, he then confirmed that, as things stand, he can only say “just maybe” in regards to whether the one-off will ever get made at all.

According to Deadline, cast members Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt Le Blanc and Matthew Perry were allegedly hoping for significantly larger paychecks than Warner Bros TV is willing to cough up at the moment. Eight figures larger, in fact.

All six original actors have expressed their desire to bring beloved New Yorkers Rachel Green, Monica and Ross Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani and Chandler Bing together again but if a deal isn’t met between talent and studio, then the special looks unlikely.

It had been reported that series creators Marta Kauffman David Crane were expected to be involved, despite insisting to fans that they were no plans to develop a reboot or scripted reunion at Tribeca TV Festival in September.

Read more: Scottish cab driver lets 'Friends' star Courteney Cox ride for free in exchange for selfie

Aniston was the first to tease the comeback when she joined Instagram in October 2019, posting a selfie with her five famous co-stars which threatened to break the internet and gained her 8.6 million followers in 24 hours.

Later, she told pal Ellen DeGeneres while appearing on her US chat show host: “I would love for there to be something, but we don’t know what that something is. So we’re just trying. We’re working on something.”