They Will Be There For New Friends Movie

IT'S The One Where Joey, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe, Ross And Rachel Get Back Together Again And Make A Mega-Bucks Comeback Movie Just Like The Girls From Sex And The City Did.

Hugs all round - because we can reveal that Friends is back for a big-screen version of the hit sitcom.

Studio bosses have got together for an oversized mug of coffee to prepare a script for a film version of the series.

And they are ready to break the bank with a multi-million package to get the main cast on board.

In an exclusive interview, James Michael Tyler - who played Central Perk oddball Gunther - confirmed: "Friends: The Movie is definitely on. I still keep in touch with a lot of the cast and they say that they are really keen."

The film comes in the wake of the big screen version of Sex And The City which took an astonishing $408,921,925 at the box office.

It will see Jennifer Aniston, 40, Courteney Cox, 45, Lisa Kudrow, 46, Matt LeBlanc, 42, Matthew Perry, 40, and David Schwimmer, 42, back on the same set for the first time since the show ended in 2004.

During Friends' tenth and final series, the six stars were each earning six figures an episode. At its peak, it had 10MILLION viewers in the UK.

Since then, the stars have enjoyed mixed career fortunes.

Flagging

DAVID SCHWIMMER (Ross) has had the biggest critical success with a range of theatrical roles including the play Some Girl(s) in London alongside Catherine Tate.

JENNIFER ANISTON (Rachel) has had lead role in commercially successful films such as Bruce Almighty, and the romantic comedies Along Came Polly and Marley and Me.

COURTENEY COX (Monica) missed out on Teri Hatcher's part in the massively successful TV series Desperate Housewives and is now set to film horror flick Scream 4.

LISA KUDROW (Phoebe) had a hit after the show finished with HBO sitcom The Comeback and is now an executive producer on the US version of Who Do You Think You Are?

But MATT LEBLANC'S spinoff comedy Joey, where he reprised the character he played on Friends, was cancelled after just two seasons.

MATTHEW PERRY'S (Chanddler) recent TV show Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, written by the West Wing's Aaron Sorkin, was also cancelled after just a single season. But he recently bounced back this year in the film 17 Again, where he played the older Zac Efron.

But now Warner Brothers have drafted in Friends creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman to write and produce the film, due in cinemas in the summer of 2011.

A movie source said: "The cast haven't set the world alight since the show finished.

"But this film could relight some of their flagging careers in a big way."

"But everyone knew the story had to be right and well written. Getting the creators on board was a massive step forward for the project.

"The show did lose a lot of its shine in the last few seasons, but with the actors all in the forties it would be a real interest to see how their characters have developed."

Desire

The cast have always made no secret about a desire to do a film and Lisa Kudrow said: "It would be so fun to be with all those people again.

"But our show was not like Sex and the City - ours was multi-camera, in front of a live audience.

"It's a completely different feel. You'd have to bring the tone down, and I don't know how it would be. I'll just stay open."

Meanwhile actor James, 47, who is in London for the launch of a Central Perk themed coffee shop in Soho, is keen to reprise his role as Gunther on the big screen.

He said: "The one thing I can tell you is that I am definitely on board to do the film.

"I really loved my time on the show and I am looking forward to meeting up with the old gang again.

"I just hope we can do justice to the show in a film."