Friends The Movie
Another day, another nostalgia induced reunion. This time it's the 'Friends' franchise that's jumping on the band wagon and heading for the big screen with Friends the movie. It can't be a cynical move to cash in on the outstanding success of SATC at the box office so we can only assume that after earning $1m an episode, the cash and work has dried up for Joey, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler and Ross.
There's been talk of a making a film since the show ended in 2004 with not a lot of action but now it's all systems go and the gang is set to start work on the motion picture within the next 18 months – and for a few of them we're sure that 18 months can't fly by quickly enough.
As with Sex and the City it's been an all or nothing project and it's Jennifer Anniston that's stalled progress so far. Brad's ex has been reluctant to step back into the role of Rachel Green for fear of being stereotyped and not taken seriously as an actress. Since the massive success of the Sex and the City movie it seems the lure of big box office takings has replaced her desire for credibility. Everyone has their price and it'll be interesting to see just how much, and what percentage of the takings that is.
A source said: "What has held back a Friends movie so far is that people were worried that Jennifer had simply become too famous to play Rachel again." Not too much chance of that, she does a good rom com and looks good in a bikini but let's face it, since Friends she's hardly been churning out Oscar winning performances. In fact it's her failed romances and fine body that make the headlines not her fine body of work.
So what of the other cast members that once upon a time were just an extension of everybody's group of real life friends? Glittering careers were predicted for all of them but the reality that hits most TV stars that aren't George Clooney is moderate to no success….
Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow managed to stay within the radar of movie star status and Dirt seems to be doing pretty well, but 'A List' movies stars they ain't. Matthew Perry took the rom com root but the work dried up. Studio 60, enjoyed by UK customers but criminally shelved in the US after one series was good, but no cigar and since then it's all gone a bit quiet for Chandler.
David Schwimmer has busied himself with work behind the camera and on the stage but poor old Joey, Matt Le Blanc, vanished into obscurity to focus on "family life" i.e. unemployment. This on the face of it makes a movie look a pretty good bet.
With Jen now on board it appears to just be a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's and then we can look forward to seeing what happened to Rachel and Ross, Monica and Chandler, Phoebe and Mike and Joey, who we assume returned to NYC to live in Chandler and Monica's garage after his series was axed.
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