Cast of Friends to Reunite in Special Episode for HBO Max Launch

Marcus Wong, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- HBO Max is already calling it: “The One Where They Got Back Together.”

The cast of the popular TV show ‘Friends’ will all appear in a special unscripted episode when WarnerMedia LLC’s HBO Max launches its streaming platform in May.

The move may be seen as a bid from HBO Max to generate buzz around the launch, and win over subscribers. Its new direct-to-consumer offering is priced at $14.99, a premium compared to its established competitors, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus.

HBO Max will include a full back catalog of the 10 seasons of ‘Friends’ with 236 episodes, which it secured for $425 million. The show, which originally ran from 1994 to 2004, has discovered a new generation of fans on Netflix, although the show left the streaming service on Jan. 1 in the U.S.

Curiosity over the new episode was piqued when the main stars of ‘Friends’ simultaneously posted an old publicity photo on their Instagram pages with the caption “It’s happening.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Marcus Wong in Singapore at mwong547@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Siraj Datoo