T AT&T Inc

By Joe Flint 

Warner Bros. is finalizing agreements with the cast of "Friends" for a reunion special that will likely be used to launch the HBO Max streaming service this spring, people familiar with the matter said.

Under the terms being discussed, each of the six stars of "Friends" -- Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer -- would receive between $2.25 million and $2.5 million for the show, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Initially, the cast was offered $1 million for the special, but they balked, a person close to the cast said.

A Warner Bros. Television spokesman would only say there is no deal.

In addition, Warner Bros. Television, which made "Friends" and is producing the special, is also wrapping up agreements with the show's creators, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, to take part in the event as well. Warner Bros. and HBO Max are units of AT&T Inc.

The special isn't a new episode of "Friends" but rather a retrospective and interviews with the cast. No host for it has been named.

One possibility is Ellen DeGeneres, whose daytime talk show is produced by Warner Bros. and who has her own deal to make content for HBO Max.

"Friends," which ran on NBC from 1994 through 2004, has become hugely popular in reruns, especially on Netflix Inc., which held streaming rights for the show until the end of last year, when WarnerMedia outbid it for streaming rights to put the show on HBO Max. That deal is valued at $425 million for five years.

WarnerMedia believes reruns of "Friends" will help persuade people to subscribe to the service, which is being offered free to HBO subscribers and for $14.99 a month for people who don't already have HBO. HBO Max is a combination of the current HBO service and a new platform with original programming as well as movies and TV shows from the Warner Bros. library.

The high cost of getting the cast of "Friends" together is indicative of how much WarnerMedia thinks the reruns as well as a reunion special will help serve as a giant promotional and marketing tool.

The streaming landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. On Tuesday, Walt Disney Co. said it had 28.6 million subscribers for its Disney+ service that launched in November.

Since "Friends" ended its run, all the cast has gone on to varying degrees of success. Ms. Aniston has been most successful with several hit feature films. She currently stars in "The Morning Show," a series about a troubled morning news program on Apple Inc.'s new streaming service, Apple TV+.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2020 21:25 ET (02:25 GMT)

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