A brand-new series of Friends – costing a whopping £1billion – is set to follow the one-off HBO special, according to reports.
TV bosses are understood to be drawing up plans for a miniseries after the one-hour special airs on US streaming service HBO Max in May.
It is hoped, with the star cast all on board for the special, that fans will demand a brand-new series with all six cast members in their original roles.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “This reunion has been 18 months in the making.
“Cast and crew have been made to sign rigid non-disclosure agreements to keep everything as fresh and exciting as possible.”
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The source added: “Officially, the deal has been signed for a one-off. But the hope is that once everyone sees how well it’s received and how much love there is for the show, another series will be agreed and commissioned.”
Should Friends get a new series, it could be the first-ever 10-figure deal in TV history.
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The source continued: “This will be the of small-screen payday the likes of which has never been seen. Including streaming rights, cast fees, spin-offs and merchandising, this could be TV’s inaugural billion-pound contract.”
There will be a huge audience for the one-off special, with hordes of new fans having been scooped up during Freinds’ Netflix run.
A massive 52.5 million people tuned in for the last-ever Friends episode when it aired nearly 16 years ago in May 2004.
But, the series proved controversial with some newer viewers who found there were a number of sexist, transphobic, racist and homophobic jokes.
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Friends, which ran from 1994 to 2004, saw the cast being paid millions for the original run.
The series won and was nominated for more than 100 awards over its 10-year run, with superstar Jennifer Aniston bagging an impressive 18 wins.
