ZEE5 sets date for ‘Friends: The Reunion’ India premiere

PTI, May 25, 2021, 4:41 PM IST

Streamer ZEE5 on Tuesday announced that the much-awaited ”Friends: The Reunion” will be available on its platform on May 27, the same day the special debuts on HBO Max in the US.

All the six original cast members of ”Friends” — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer — are coming back for the programme.

The special will become available for ZEE5 subscribers at 12:32 pm in India, the streaming service said in a statement. ”We received an overwhelming response from the audience after recently announcing that the ‘Friends: The Reunion’ special will stream exclusively on ZEE5 in India. ”We are proud to share that we will bring this event to India along with the world on May 27 at 12:32 pm,” said Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India.

Ben Winston directed the special and executive produced along with ”Friends” executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane.

The one-off event was delayed multiple times due to the production shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally set to film in February 2020 but was only able to begin filming in April this year at the iconic comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, California.

It will also feature a variety of special guests including 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, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon and Malala Yousafzai.

”Friends: The Reunion” comes from Warner Bros Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, Fulwell 73 Productions and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions.

The show, which first aired in 1994, was a phenomenon during its decade-long run and later achieved cult status through TV reruns and streamers.