FRIENDS: Here’s How Much The Six Leads Are Still Earning From The Show(Photo Credit – Imdb)
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If you’re a FRIENDS’ (or any long-running popular show) fan, two questions of “do the stars earn even after the show ends?” and “if yes, how much are they earning now?” must’ve indeed popped in your brain. Regarding the first one, yes, actors of popular long-running shows do get what’s called ‘royalties’. But how much? Well, that’s what we’re here to tell you.
The concept of ‘television shows‘ is so that the content could technically be sold to a newer audience even after it has ended. A 00’s kid watching a Seinfeld episode in 2021 is still a source of income for the makers.
While the big production houses still earn a good chunk of money years later from the shows they once backed, stars are also entitled to get some portion. In this article, we’ll talk about how much FRIENDS casts is making even after 26 years since the show first aired.
According to Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, not all the actors in the show are on the ‘getting rich forever’ list. Because some side/supporting actors choose to take a lump sum amount when they sign a particular show.
FRIENDS first aired in 1994 and ran a very successful ten reasons till 2004. But, what made this show what it is today is the number of times (a lot) it has watched in the re-runs. Including ‘Chandler’ Matthew Perry, ‘Joey’ Matt LeBlanc, ‘Monica‘ Courteney Cox, ‘Ross’ David Schwimmer, ‘Phoebe’ Lisa Kudrow and ‘Rachel’ Jennifer Aniston, the makers to date pay a handsome amount of dividends to all of them.
Back in 2015, USA Today reported that FRIENDS’ production house, i.e. Warner Bros., still earn in the ballpark of $1 Billion a year from the show. That’s a whole lot of money for a show which must be as old as some of you reading this article.
The same report also stated that of that billion dollars, 2% is paid to each lead actor from the show, which brings down the calculation to pay $2 Million to each of the six friends every year. Well, that’s how much you get if you make a show as memorable as FRIENDS.
How did you find this? Do you want us to do more such ‘royalties’ based articles on different shows? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
