‘Friends’ reunion special put on hold due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic

The Friends reunion special has been put on hold due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Variety confirmed the news that filming of the special has been delayed. It was due to begin filming next week, but now production is being pushed back until May at the earliest.

The reunion special was announced in February, and on the 16th anniversary of the American sitcom’s heartfelt finale, the cast of Friends was supposed to be reunited once again for the one-off special.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry were officially set reunite onscreen in 2020 for the unscripted Friends reunion exclusive to HBO‘s upcoming streaming service, HBO Max.

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On Friday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. (PT), each of the stars — with the exception of LeBlanc, 52 — took to Instagram sharing an identical promotional image from the smash-hit ’90s comedy series which showed the six beloved characters together, confirming they had all signed a deal with the media giant.

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The images were all captioned, “It’s happening…,” including LeBlanc’s, who, instead, posted an image of some of the cast members from M.A.S.H. as a joke.

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Health officials say the risk is low for Canadians but warn this could change quickly. They caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are asked to self-isolate for 14 days in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others.

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— With files from Adam Wallis