HOW MUCH DID THE FRIENDS CAST MAKE FOR THE REUNION? HBO SPECIAL SALARY EXPLORED

We have explored how much the cast for the special episode got together once more for Friends: The Reunion.

Friends is one of the most popular shows ever. From 1994-1944, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, Courtene Cox, David Schwimmer, and Matthew Perry were part of the NBC sitcom.

The primary cast is currently worth around $810 million in the total net. Thanks to Friends repeats and other acting efforts, this figure is increasing each year.

Friends: The Reunion, an unscripted special that brought the show’s primary ensemble back together, was a worldwide success. Warner Bros. Television commissioned the 110-minute episode, dubbed “The One Where They Get Back Together,” for its HBO Max streaming service.

The episode was planned to coincide with the introduction of the streamer, but it had to be postponed by a year because of the coronavirus epidemic. It was released on May 27, HBO Max’s first birthday.

The emotional and nostalgia-filled episode drew a lot of attention on social media, but there are concrete data to back it up as well. The special appears to be assisting HBO Max in gaining customers.

What was the cast paid for Friends: The Reunion? Let’s look at their wages.

HOW MUCH DID THE CAST OF THE FRIENDS EARN FOR THE FRIENDS REUNION?

• More than $2.5 million

This month, Variety reported that each cast member on Friends Reunion 2021 would earn at least $2.5 million for the special episode.

Sources close to the project verified this, albeit the amount might be considered higher.

Although this is a large sum for a one-off episode, it pales in contrast to the yearly income each member of the Friends cast earns from repeats.

HOW MUCH DO THE CAST OF FRIENDS EARN FROM RENEWAL EPISODES?

• Twenty million dollars

According to a Deadline source from last year, the total amount spent on the talent would be $20 million, with each of the six cast members receiving 3 to 4 million dollars (about Rs 21 to 28 crore). At the same time, Variety said that the cast would receive 2.5 million dollars for the reunion special. According to the Wall Street Journal, the original cast was offered $1 million apiece for the special, which they turned down.

By the end of Season 10 of Friends, the cast was making a million dollars each episode. This was after the cast had secured a raise in remuneration as well as a share of the series’ syndication income. In the first season, though, they started at $22,500 each episode.

Because Ross and Rachel’s relationship became a key element during the second season, Warner Bros. wanted individual contracts with each performer. According to the New York Times, although Aniston and Schwimmer made about 40,000 dollars each episode, others were still earning about their initial wages.

However, during Season 3, the actors joined together to guarantee that all six of them received equal remuneration. The cast members were then offered $75,000 each episode by the studio. Their collective bargaining created a precedent for performers on ensemble series like The Big Bang Theory to follow to achieve wage equity for the cast.

According to reports, the Friends cast’s salary was increased to $1 million per episode for Seasons 9 and 10 in 2002. Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston were the highest-paid women on television at the time as a result of this.

Parade says that the cast of Friends makes $20 million years from the residues of the series alone, while Warner Bros receives an incredible $1 billion per year from unions. Each member of the cast earns this two percent. As HBO Max was initiated, WarnerMedia also invested $425 million in acquiring Friends streaming rights.

Friends: Reunion receives 1 million views within hours in India

A statement by Amit Goenka, president of digital enterprises &platforms, ZEE5, has been streamed Friends: The Reunion in India and stated the episode had been seen more than 1 million times in the nation.

“We are thrilled to report that ‘Friends: Reunion’ has garnered an overwhelming reaction on ZEE5 by gathering 1mn+ of views and counting from around the country,” said the statement.

HBO Max will still publish the data, and this story will be updated.

The premiere of Friends: The Reunion piques viewers’ curiosity in the main show.

“Source informs me the amount of *new* members picking FRIENDS as the first item they watch when they first log in to Max is presently up 600 percent against the weekly average of so-called “first views,” according to Vulture’s West Coast Editor Josef Adalian. All of this in only one day!

According to The Observer, even advertising material for Friends: The Reunion boosted interest in the classic 1990s comedy. Friends was the fourth most popular show on Netflix until May 24, behind Game of Thrones, Attack on Titan, and Money Heist – pretty bad for a comedy that ended in 2004.

India happens to be one of the show’s top five markets. India ranked third behind the United States and Brazil, according to Parrot Analytics. When it came to national demand, Friends was 17.85x that of the typical show.

FRIENDS REUNION: HOW TO WATCH

The Friends reunion 2021 special aired on HBO Max on Thursday, May 27, 2021. It was presented by James Corden and had a variety of celebrity guests, including David Beckham, Lady Gaga, and other Friends cast members.

In true Friends fashion, the episode is named The One Where They Get Back Together.

HBO Max is currently exclusively accessible in the United States. Thus international viewers will be unable to access it.

Friends Reunion was also shown on Sky in the United Kingdom. Sky Go or NOW TV will be able to watch it live.