‘Friends’ Reunion – The Astronomical Earnings HBO Max Will Pay The Stars

It’s officially happening. Jennifer Aniston broke the internet on Friday by taking to Instagram with a confirmation that the Friends cast will be reuniting for an HBO Max feature – while the 51-year-old offered little detail on the reunion, it is known to be unscripted. Jennifer’s Instagram post was followed by her former co-stars sharing the image, but as the most-followed cast member, it was Aniston’s post that had the platform in meltdown.

Jennifer’s post showed the big six in a throwback photo from their Rolling Stone cover. It included David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc, plus Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow.

“It’s happening,” Jennifer wrote before tagging all of her former co-stars, plus HBO.

As Variety reports, the reunion is set to earn the former NBC stars big bucks – a staggering $2.5 million minimum each is what the media outlet estimates the cast will net from their one-off special. HBO Max will stream the reunion in May of this year.

As to the social media response, it’s been nothing short of immense. Jennifer Aniston’s photo of the six posing in a convertible vehicle managed to rack up over 1.7 million likes in under 30 minutes. By the time the post was 19 hours old, those likes sat at over 9.1 million.

Celebrities were quick to respond, with their comments garnering the most likes. Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland managed to clock over 16,000 likes for her comment. “EXCUSE ME?! 😭😭😭😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍,” she wrote. Meanwhile, Jen’s The Morning Show co-star Reese Witherspoon replied with “HOLY COW!!! This is 💯🌟.”

Chief content office at HBO max and other media companies made a statement.

“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.”

“I became aware of Friends when it was in the very early stages of development and then had the opportunity to work on the series many years later and have delighted in seeing it catch on with viewers generation after generation. 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,” he added.

Friends hit screens in 1994, airing until 2004. The sitcom marked the first for a cast earning $1 million per episode, with the figure not matched until years later with The Big Bang Theory cast.

Jennifer herself made history in October 2019 for joining Instagram. The star’s sign-up broke both the platform’s records and earned her a Guinness World Record one, seeing her account be the fastest to gain 1 million followers. Matthew Perry was the final Friends member to join Instagram, doing so earlier this month.

Jen’s announcement post brought in celebrity likes galore – Kaley Cuoco, Blake Lively, Mariah Carey, and Kate Hudson all left likes, as did model Ashley Graham and reality star Kailyn Lowry.

Friends remains regarded by many as the best sitcom of all time. The NYC-set series following the lives of six New Yorkers remains iconic, even having a gen-Z following. Famous faces are also giant fans – just recently, “Yummy” singer Justin Bieber appeared on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke to reveal that he and wife Hailey watch the show at home. The 25-year-old then gave James his best Joey “How you doin’?” impression.