"Friends" On The Big Screen

Following the success of Sex and the City on the big screen, another hit TV sitcom from the 90s will make it to box office.


Friends: The Movie will reunite six lead stars we have come to love since 1994: Jennifer Aniston as the fashion forward waitress Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as the obsessive-compulsive Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow as the eccentric masseuse Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as the struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as the sarcastic executive Chandler Bing, and David Schwimmer as the paleontologist Ross Geller.


Now in their 40s, these actors will be back on the same set for the first time since the show ended in 2004. The NBC series followed the lives of these six friends living together and share living expenses in a Manhattan apartment.

According to a movie source, "The cast haven't set the world alight since the show finished. But this film could relight some of their flagging careers in a big way. But everyone knew the story had to be right and well written. Getting the creators on board was a massive step forward for the project.The show did lose a lot of its shine in the last few seasons, but with the actors all in the forties it would be a real interest to see how their characters have developed."

Warner Brothers is willing to pay a fortune to the main cast who, on their final season, have been paid six figures for every episode and pulled 52.5 million American viewers and 10 million viewers in UK. The lead stars have also achieved household name celebrity status during the tenth and last season.

Some of the Friends cast have already expressed desire to play for its big screen debut.

Despite doubts, Lisa Kudrow is positive towards the project: "It would be so fun to be with all those people again. But our show was not like Sex and the City - ours was multi-camera, in front of a live audience. It's a completely different feel. You'd have to bring the tone down, and I don't know how it would be. I'll just stay open."


Even James Michael Tyler who played Central Perk coffee shop worker Gunther on the series says "Friends: The Movie is definitely on. I still keep in touch with a lot of the cast and they say that they are really keen. The one thing I can tell you is that I am definitely on board to do the film. I really loved my time on the show and I am looking forward to meeting up with the old gang again. I just hope we can do justice to the show in a film."

(James Michael Tyler was originally a nameless extra who made an impressive ten-year career on the series as the show's most-frequently-appearing guest star.)