According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa Kudrow (Friends, No Good Deed) is keeping a keen eye on the Warner Bros Discovery deal. She asked whoever takes over the company to ensure the lot where Friends was filmed does not get demolished.
In a recent interview with Architectural Digest, Kudrow, who played Phoebe on the illustrious sitcom. “It’s hard for me to tell whether Warner Bros. is just special to me, or if it’s special to the whole city or industry, and I think it is,” she said. “Everything changes ownership all the time, and you don’t know what’s going to happen.” via The Hollywood Reporter.
She continued. “I think most people really, really hope whatever happens next is that this studio lot is preserved as is. It works. I mean, we just shot here. Whoever buys it, you don’t need to change anything! It works. It works great! It really does. So congratulations, whoever’s next, please don’t change a thing. Please, please don’t remove Jack Warner’s roses,” via The Hollywood Reporter.
The merger is already controversial. Critics have asserted that the media is already becoming too monopolized. Senator Elizabeth Warren called the potential merger an “anit-monoply nightmare,” via Deadline.
The film and television industry has undergone massive changes over the past several decades. Netflix was perhaps the progenitor of this evolution as the first company to introduce streaming. Netflix remains one of the two major contenders for Warner Bros. Discovery. Although seemingly inconsequential, destroying a piece of television history could make the deal even less popular.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Warner Brothers Lot is home to many legendary movies and series, including Casablanca, Inception, Blade Runner, The Matrix, and The Goonies. Kudrow’s connection to the show Friends ran from 1994 to 2004.
The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Paramount Skydance is the other major contender in the deal. While their offer of 108.7 billion is larger than Netflix’s 82 billion-dollar offer, Warner Brothers Discovery has recommended that shareholders vote in favor of Netflix, as it does not include broadcast.