Sex and the City 2



Sex and the City 2 is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Patrick King. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Sex and the City, which is based on the 1998-2004 HBO comedy series of the same name (itself based on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell).

Theatrically released on May 27, 2010, in the United States and May 28, 2010, in the United Kingdom, the film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Chris Noth, who reprised their roles from the previous film and television series. It also features cameo appearances from Liza Minnelli, Miley Cyrus, Tim Gunn, Ron White, Omid Djalili, and Penélope Cruz, as well as Broadway actors, Norm Lewis, Kelli O'Hara, and Ryan Silverman.

Despite largely negative reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success, grossing over $294 million from a $95 million budget. It also did well in home video sales, debuting at number one in the U.S and the U.K selling almost one million copies. The film was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, and won three of them; Parker, Cattrall, Davis, and Nixon for Worst Actress, Worst Screen Ensemble, and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.

Plot
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda meet up with each other. In flashback Carrie is depicted arriving in New York City in 1986, then met Charlotte one year later, Miranda in 1989. She also meets Samantha, when she was a bartender at the music club CBGB.

In the present, three of the four women are married but Samantha, who at 52, is desperately trying to keep her libido alive with the help of "Suzanne Somers and her team of doctors" to keep her menopause at bay. The four of them attend Anthony and Stanford's wedding, where Carrie serves as "best man." Miranda quits her job after the misogynistic new managing partner disrespects her once too often. Charlotte's two children are a handful (mostly her two-year-old daughter Rose's extreme and constant crying) and she's worried that Harry is attracted to their buxom Irish nanny, Erin. Carrie's marriage to Mr. Big has settled down, though they differ on how to spend their spare time. For their anniversary, Carrie gives Mr. Big a vintage Rolex watch engraved with a romantic message, while he, much to her dismay, shows her a new TV in their bedroom as his gift, which Big says they can use to watch old movies together, something they did at the hotel at Anthony and Stanford's wedding and seemed to enjoy. Carrie, however, is disappointed, as she had hoped for jewelry as a gift.

Meanwhile, Samantha has been approached by an Arab sheikh to devise a PR campaign for his business. He offers to fly her and her friends on an all-expenses-paid luxury vacation to Abu Dhabi. The girls happily accept, although Carrie is worried about the separation from Big and Charlotte is worried about leaving her husband alone with the nanny. Only Miranda, unfettered by a job for the first time in her life, is enthusiastic. Upon entering Abu Dhabi, Samantha's hormone-enhancing drugs are confiscated under UAE law. This renders her devoid of estrogen; her famous libido goes dead. Charlotte tries to call Harry every few minutes; Miranda revels in the luxury surrounding her, while Carrie befriends her manservant, Gaurau, who is an underpaid temporary worker from India.

Carrie runs into her former lover, Aidan. He proposes dinner à deux at his hotel and she decides to meet Aidan for dinner. The dinner is very enjoyable, with the two discussing old times. Aidan remarks on the ways Carrie is "not like other women". In a moment of remembered passion, they kiss. Carrie runs away in panic and returns to the hotel. Back at the hotel, Miranda and Charlotte have drinks together and discuss the difficulties of motherhood. Carrie arrives, tells her friends about the kiss, and asks them whether she should tell Big, as they have no secrets between them. Miranda reflects on the events of the previous film, when her husband, Steve, told her about his affair. Samantha counsels Carrie to wait before deciding anything. Carrie opts to call Big to tell him. Big is silent upon hearing the news, and after saying a few words, hangs up.

The four women find their style and Western attitudes contrast with Muslim customs. While on a date with a handsome Dane, Samantha is arrested for public indecency after fondling him at a restaurant and making out with him on the beach. With the Sheikh's intervention, Samantha is released, but is left with a permanent police record. Worse, the Sheikh decides to cancel the PR meeting and ceases paying for the remainder of the women's luxurious stay. They are told that have 1 hour to either pay for the rest of their stay or leave. They quickly pack their bags and leave, but must return to the souq to find Carrie's passport. When Samantha's flamboyance nearly incites a riot, the girls are rescued by a group of Emirati women who share their sense of style under their black robes.

When Carrie returns home, she finds the bedroom television removed and Big gone. She passes an anxious day, at the end of which he returns. Big tells her that although he was "pretty torn up", he realizes that what she needs is something to remind her at all times that she is married. He hands her a jewelry box, which reveals an engagement ring set with a black diamond. When Carrie asks him why a black diamond, he says, "Because you're not like anyone else", echoing Aidan's earlier comment.

Big and Carrie combine their interests; Charlotte's nanny, Erin, turns out to be a lesbian and is no threat to her marriage; Miranda finds a new job at a more laid back and diverse law firm where she is appreciated, and Samantha stays the same, even meeting up with the Danish architect she met in Abu Dhabi for sex on the beach, this time a beach on The Hamptons.

Cast

 * Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw
 * Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones
 * Kristin Davis as Charlotte York Goldenblatt
 * Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes
 * Chris Noth as John James Preston / Mr. Big
 * John Corbett as Aidan Shaw
 * David Eigenberg as Steve Brady
 * Evan Handler as Harry Goldenblatt
 * Jason Lewis as Jerry "Smith" Jerrod
 * Willie Garson as Stanford Blatch
 * Mario Cantone as Anthony Marentino
 * Lynn Cohen as Magda
 * Alice Eve as Erin (Charlotte's Irish nanny)
 * Noah Mills as Nicky Marentino
 * Megan Boone as Allie
 * Max Ryan as Dr. Rikard Spirt
 * Raza Jaffrey as Gaurau
 * Viola Harris as Gloria Blatch
 * Omid Djalili as Mr. Safir, Hotel Manager
 * Dhaffer L'Abidine as Mahmud
 * Art Malik as Sheikh Khaled
 * Penélope Cruz as Carmen García Carrión
 * Liza Minnelli as herself
 * Miley Cyrus as herself
 * Tuesday Knight as herself
 * Tim Gunn as himself

Development
After months of speculation, the cast confirmed in February 2009 that a sequel was in the works. Filming began in August 2009.

The sequel is noticeably different from its predecessor, and includes more exotic locales than the original. King credits this to the experience he had promoting the original film in such locales. He was also inspired by the recession to write something bigger more akin to the extravagant adventures and escapist comedies of the 1930s. The location of Abu Dhabi was chosen because of its high fashion culture (although the authorities later revoked filming clearance) and also that it was a location relatively free from the recession.

All four stars, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, and Kim Cattrall, returned in the sequel; Chris Noth also signed on to reprise the role of Mr. Big. Evan Handler returned as Harry Goldenblatt, John Corbett as Aiden Shaw, David Eigenberg played Steve Brady once more, Willie Garson returned as Stanford Blatch, and Mario Cantone again played Anthony Marentino, making the original cast almost complete. In addition, Michael Patrick King wrote and directed again, and Patricia Field once again took charge of the costumes and wardrobe. Hats were once again created by Prudence Millinery for Vivienne Westwood.

Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the budget for the film was US$95 million, exactly $30 million greater than the budget for the first film. Sarah Jessica Parker was paid 15 million plus residuals for her dual role as a producer and starring as Carrie Bradshaw.

Filming
Filming in New York City was postponed to the end of July as Emirati authorities refused clearance for filming in the emirate. As a result, the Abu Dhabi segment of the film was filmed in Morocco. All four leading ladies and other cast and crew were photographed filming scenes in Morocco in November 2009, where they had originally planned to shoot for 13 days, which had to be extended to almost six weeks. Filming took place at several locations including the seaside town of Sidi Kaouki, and Amanjena, outside of Marrakesh.

The sequel officially began filming on September 1, 2009 and continued until the end of the year. Photos of all four leading women filming scenes around New York together and separately have emerged, featuring present-day scenes as well as a range of looks believed to be flashbacks from the earlier years of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte's long-standing friendships. Images of Samantha in a wedding dress have also been released. Additionally, scenes featuring prominent characters such as Mr. Big, Magda, Smith, Steve, and the children of Miranda and Charlotte have been filmed and photographed.

Casting
In September 2009, American singer/actress Liza Minnelli confirmed to several media outlets that she appeared in a cameo role. Singer/actress Bette Midler had been photographed on set, but does not appear in the film. Penélope Cruz appears briefly as Carmen, a banker. Miley Cyrus appeared in one scene where she appears at the premiere of Smith Jerrod's new film, wearing the same dress as Samantha. On October 17, Oceanup.com posted several pictures of Miley filming the scene.

John Corbett was seen on location in Morocco, confirming his speculated involvement in the film as Aidan.

Release
Promotion began in December 2009, when the official teaser poster was released online, featuring Carrie in a white dress and gold sunglasses which reflect a Moroccan backdrop, and the tagline "Carrie On", a similar pun of the lead character's name as "Get Carried Away" from the first film. The same image and tagline was used for the launch of the official Sex and the City 2 website, also launched in December 2009.

The teaser trailer premiered online on December 22, 2009. In March 2010, new promotional stills were released, predominantly featuring scenes from the Moroccan portion of the film. Also in March, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon attended ShoWest 2010 in Las Vegas to premiere the full length trailer and discuss the film (Kim Cattrall was in London performing on stage in the West End, and joined the rest of the cast for promotion when her stage run ended on May 3).

The full theatrical trailer premiered on Entertainment Tonight and online on April 8, 2010, featuring current New York City-themed hit "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys as well as Australian R&B/Pop singer, Ricki-Lee Coulter's platinum selling hit, "Can't Touch It".

A full scale promotional tour with all key cast members – including television, press conference and print – commenced in early May 2010, and continued throughout the film's release, encompassing many different countries and cities. The New York City premiere of the film was held on 24 May 2010.

Critical response
The film has received widespread negative reviews; review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 15% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 198 reviews, with an average score of 3.7/10. By comparison the first film received a score of 49% based on 172 reviews, with an average score of 5.5/10. The critical consensus is: "Straining under a thin plot stretched to its limit by a bloated running time, Sex and the City 2 adds an unfortunate coda to the long-running HBO series." Metacritic gave the film a score of 27/100 based on a normalized average of 39 reviews indicating generally unfavorable reviews.

The film was also criticized for its portrayal of the Middle East. Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter called it "blatantly anti-Muslim" and Hadley Freeman of the UK broadsheet The Guardian described the trailers as "borderline racist".

Andrew O'Hagan of the London Evening Standard described the movie as ugly on the inside, and ended by saying "This could be the most stupid, the most racist, the most polluting and women-hating film of the year".

Roger Ebert gave the film one star out of four; he wrote, "I am obliged to report that this film will no doubt be deliriously enjoyed by its fans, for the reasons described above. Male couch potatoes dragged to the film against their will may find some consolation. Reader, I must confess that while attending the sneak preview with its overwhelmingly female audience, I was gob-smacked by the delightful cleavage on display."

Lindy West wrote a noted review of the film, saying that "SATC2 takes everything that I hold dear as a woman and as a human—working hard, contributing to society, not being an entitled cunt like it's my job—and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car. It is 146 minutes long, which means that I entered the theater in the bloom of youth and emerged with a family of field mice living in my long, white mustache. This is an entirely inappropriate length for what is essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls."

Mitu Sengupta, a Toronto-based academic, criticized the film for exploiting women's and gay rights, and "pitifully" turning them into "badges of national honor" and "smug patriotic pride." She wrote: "what's really worrying about Sex and the City 2 is not its Orientalism or crass materialism, but how easily this seemingly benign bubble-gum flick ends up fighting a very macho war of global one-upmanship on the bodies of women and gay men."

British film critic Mark Kermode declared it the worst film of 2010, saying he couldn't think of anything civilization had made that was "more poisonous, more repugnant, more repulsive, more retrograde, more depressing than Sex and the City 2," and said its unintentionally "ghastly" portrayal of the "disgustingly wealthy" almost made him want to become a communist. Time named it one of the top 10 worst movies based on TV shows.

The film received 7 nominations at the 31st Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture. It went on to win three awards, including a joint worst actress award for the film's four principal actresses: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis. David Eigenberg expressed interest in receiving the Worst Couple/Screen Ensemble Razzie, which was awarded to the entire cast. According to Razzies founder John J. B. Wilson, "[Eigenberg] said that he had never won an award of any kind and if this was what he won, he would accept it." Eigenberg then collaborated with Wilson to make a humorous acceptance video which was posted on the official YouTube channel of the Golden Raspberry Awards.

Box office
The film opened in 3,445 theaters on May 27, 2010, setting a record for one of the widest release for a R rated romantic comedy film. Playing in 2,000 theaters, the film grossed $3 million from its midnight premiere. On its opening day, the film topped the box office grossing $14.2 million, for a projected $60 million for a 4-day opening weekend, plus $75 million for a 5-day Memorial day weekend. But it debuted in second place behind Shrek Forever After with $32.1 million, and its total to $45.3 million, for its 4-day opening weekend, plus $53 million on its 5-day opening weekend (Memorial Day).

However, overseas, the sequel was a bigger success topping the charts in Germany for 5 weeks, Britain for 3 weeks, Australia for 2 weeks and exceeding the original in Japan and Greece. In fact, Sex and the City 2 sold more tickets than the first part in many of the foreign markets. As of August 19, 2010, the film's total domestic gross stands at $95,347,692 and as of August 1, 2010, overseas, it has grossed $199,333,086 — giving it a worldwide total of $294,680,778. Although 27% lower than the first film, it was 2010's highest-grossing romantic comedy.

Home release
Sex and the City 2 was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and iTunes on October 26, 2010, in the US where it entered the chart at number one selling almost one million copies in its first week. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on November 29, 2010, also entering the sales chart at number one.

Soundtrack
Sex and the City 2 original motion picture soundtrack was released on May 25, 2010.


 * 1) "Rapture" – Alicia Keys (Blondie)
 * 2) "Everything to Lose" – Dido
 * 3) "Language of Love" – Cee Lo
 * 4) "Window Seat" – Erykah Badu
 * 5) "Kidda" – Natacha Atlas
 * 6) "Euphrates Dream" – Michael McGregor
 * 7) "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Liza Minnelli (Beyoncé)
 * 8) "Can't Touch It" – Ricki-Lee
 * 9) "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" – Alicia Keys
 * 10) "Love Is Your Color" – Jennifer Hudson & Leona Lewis
 * 11) "I Am Woman" – Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon
 * 12) "If Ever I Would Leave You" – Sex and the City Men's Choir
 * 13) "Sunrise, Sunset" – Sex and the City Men's Choir
 * 14) "Till There Was You" – Sex and the City Men's Choir
 * 15) "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" – Shayna Steele, Jordan Ballard, Kamilah Marshall
 * 16) "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" – Liza Minnelli with Billy Stritch (Cole Porter)
 * 17) "True Colors" – Cyndi Lauper
 * 18) "Divas and Dunes" – Aaron Zigman


 * Not included on the soundtrack.
 * "Songs Remind Me of You" by Annie appears in the background of the after party scene, but is not included on the soundtrack.
 * "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys appears in the background of the Smith's movie premiere scene, and official trailer, but is not included on the soundtrack.

The score was recorded and mixed by Dennis S. Sands and Steve Kempster and performed by a large ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony conducted by Stephen Coleman who orchestrated Zigman's score. Patrick Kirst also orchestrated.


 * Charts