Los Angeles, Aug 8 :

 HBO Max’s much-awaited reunion special of “Friends” has once again been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An HBO Max insider told Variety that the ongoing pandemic-induced shutdown has forced the makers to push the production of the special to later this year.

All six original cast members — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer — are set to come together for the reunion, which was officially ordered in February.

Ben Winston will direct and executive produce alongside “Friends” creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman and Kevin Bright.

In July, Schwimmer had told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” that the streamer was planning to shoot the special in August.

“But honestly, we’re going to wait and see (for) another week or two, if we all determine it’s really safe enough to do. And if not, then we’ll wait until it’s safe,” he had said.

The reunion special will be shot at the iconic Stage 24 of the Warner Bros Studio lot in Burbank, where the original NBC series was filmed.(PTI)