Lisa Kudrow made a plea to the next Warner Bros. Discovery owner to preserve the Burbank studio lot where she filmed “Friends.”
“I don’t know if Warner Bros. is just special to me, or if it’s special to the whole city or industry — I think it is. Ownership changes all the time and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Kudrow said in a Thursday interview with Architectural Digest.
“I think most people really hope whatever happens next is that this studio lot is preserved as is. It works,” she continued. “I mean, we just shot here. Whoever buys it, you don’t need to change anything! Congrats … Please don’t remove Jack Warner’s roses.”
The “Friends” star reflected on some of her favorite Los Angeles locations as part of a special piece for AD. One of those places was the legendary studio, which was built in 1928 and is where several iconic Hollywood projects have been filmed, including “Casablanca,” “The Matrix” and “Inception.”
With acquisition talks still ongoing with Netflix and its deal to purchase WBD’s studio and streaming assets — as well as with Paramount’s hostile takeover bid — Kudrow stressed her hope that the no matter who the new buyer is, that the studio remains the same.
Right now, Netflix has offered $82.7 billion to purchase Warner Bros. Meanwhile, Paramount has made its bid for the full studio Warner Bros. Discovery studio with a $108 billion offer.
Paramount CEO David Ellison called Netflix out for its “monopolistic” tendencies while laying out his vision for the future of cinema in an open letter to the British creative community and the film and TV industry at large late Wednesday night.
Touting his own “deep love and appreciation for storytelling — especially on screen,” the executive wrote that a deal between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery would “strengthen competition by creating a more capable and effective rival to the dominant platforms,” in stark contract to Netflix’s path.
Ellison’s letter came after he notably missed an antitrust hearing on Tuesday over the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal. He has also been taking meetings with European regulators and the U.K. Culture Secretary over the last month in an attempt to thwart Netflix’s bid.
