Friends: The Reunion Gets Release Date, First Teaser, and a Guest List

Friends: The Reunion will premiere May 27 on HBO Max, the US-exclusive streaming service has announced. The release date for the Friends reunion special came with a short 40-second teaser that shows the original six — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer — walking away from the camera on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California. That's where the iconic series was filmed: Stage 24, to be precise. There's no word on an international release date or platform for the Friends reunion, WarnerMedia told Gadgets 360, with the May 27 premiere on HBO Max the only confirmed bit so far.

Alongside the release date and teaser, HBO Max revealed that Friends: The Reunion will feature a number of special guests including the likes of David Beckham, Justin Bieber, BTS, James Corden, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliott Gould, Kit Harington, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Thomas Lennon, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, James Michael Tyler, Maggie Wheeler, Reese Witherspoon, and Malala Yousafzai. While some of those names are recognisable to Friends fans, others are a lot more curious. What do they have in connection with Friends, apart from being fans just like the rest of us? We don't have to wait too long to find out though.

Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer also served as executive producers on the unscripted special, alongside Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, executive producer Kevin Bright, and director Ben Winston. Winston has directed multiple One Direction music videos and Corden's Carpool Karaoke episode featuring Paul McCartney. Friends: The Reunion is a production of Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, Fulwell 73 Productions and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. Emma Conway, James Longman, and Stacey Thomas-Muir are co-executive producers.

Friends: The Reunion's May 27 premiere date on HBO Max marks the one-year anniversary of the WarnerMedia-owned streaming platform, which is set to expand into Latin America and Caribbean markets in June, with European HBO services to be upgraded later in 2021. There's no word on HBO Max launching in India anytime soon, so this is only going to further fuel piracy unlike with Justice League Snyder Cut. Don't expect Friends: The Reunion to release on Disney+ Hotstar, as its HBO deal does not extend to HBO Max originals. Despite the shared name, HBO and HBO Max are entirely separate entities.