Here’s How Much The Cast of FRIENDS Earned From Special Reunion
To get its streaming rights, Warner Media spent $425 million at the time HBO Max was launched
Coming together after 17 years, the cast of an unscripted special The Friends: Reunion or The One Where They Get Back Together, has earned millions of dollars from 110-minute special episode, which has become a global hit.
The episode was commissioned by Warner Bros and aired on the first birthday of HBO Max after being delayed by a year owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
To get its streaming rights, Warner Media spent $425 million at the time HBO Max was launched.
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The star cast included Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer.
Moreover, some prominent personalities like David Beckham, Lady Gaga, Kit Harington, Reese Witherspoon, Malala Yousafzai, and K-pop band BTS were also part of the much-awaited reunion.
Different estimates
However, different sources have quoted contrasting budgets allocated for the talent of the special.
The Deadline report said that $20 million were allocated for the star cast, in which each of the six cast members was paid $3 to $4 million.
The Variety noted the cast will pocket $2.5 million each for the reunion special.
Whereas, The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the original cast was initially offered $1 million each for the special but they turned it down.
Although, $1 million were paid to each of the star cast by the time Friends season 10 ended, they demanded a pay hike plus a percentage of the series’ profits in syndication.
This made Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston the highest-paid women on TV in 2002.
New York Times reported that since Ross and Rachel’s relationship became a focal point during the second season, Warner Bros paid Aniston and Schwimmer $40,000 per episode, however, the remaining cast was getting their original salaries.
However, for the Friends Reunion, the cast requested for pay parity and now the studio paid each member $75,000 for special episode.
After the US and Brazil, India is on the third number for the show with viewers in millions.
