The long-discussed and even longer anticipated Friends reunion special is reportedly set to finally start shooting next week in Los Angeles, according to Deadline. HBO has not provided an official comment as of this writing, but the special has always been expected to be an unscripted reunion featuring the cast returning to the original soundstage on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank.

　　Before the pandemic, the Friends reunion was being billed as one of the launch specials for HBO Max. But if nothing else, this report confirms recent news bubbling up in 2021 that the special is "definitely" still happening. Just like when Friends was airing on NBC, much was also made of the salary for each Friends co-star for this reunion--last year, it was said that the six stars were being paid between $3 and $4 million.

　　Directed by Ben Winston (The Late Late Show with James Corden), the Friends reunion is expected to follow a structure similar to last year's Fresh Prince reunion where cast members assembled on the original set, reminisced, and revealed unexpected insights. Cast member David Schwimmer revealed to BBC talk-show host Graham Norton that the show will be unscripted and they will not be appearing in character, but he did tease that "there is one section of it that I don't want to give away, but we all read something." Earlier this year, cast member Lisa Kudrow said on Rob Lowe's podcast that she's already filmed some sequences.

　　No release date for the Friends reunion special has yet been announced.

　　David Wolinsky on Google+