Call Your 'Friends': A Real Central Perk Coffee Shop May Be Coming Soon
While "Friends" fans' dreams of sipping coffee in Central Perk alongside Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Ross (David Schwimmer), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) may never come true, the next best thing may be just around the corner: A real Central Perk coffee shop location.
That's what appears to be brewing over at Warner Bros. Entertainment, which produced "Friends" throughout its 10-season run on NBC. The studio recently filed some court documents -- unearthed by The Blast -- requesting a trademark on the name "Central Perk" and its familiar, coffee cup-flanked logo.
According to The Blast, Warner Bros. was seeking the copyright in order to use the name for "coffee shop and cafe services," strongly suggesting that it's looking to take the Central Perk concept out into the real world. No word yet on whether that iconic orange couch will be included in the floor plan, but that seems like a no-brainer.
If a Central Perk chain is indeed in the works, it stands to make some serious bank, since "Friends" fans are a notoriously loyal bunch, and have been clamoring for more content for years. (They're so desperate, they even made a fake "Friends" movie trailer.) While a new book about the series is in the works, sadly, a revival or reunion special just isn't in the cards.
Warner Bros. previously launched a Central Perk pop-up shop in Manhattan in 2014, timed to the 20th anniversary of the show's release, which was a hit with fans. It's certainly possible that this new copyright filing is in anticipation of a similar plan for the show's 25th anniversary in 2019, but we're going to pretend otherwise until the studio reveals its true intentions.