- Title: USA: Sex and the City fans gear up for highly-anticipated sequel
- Date: 20th May 2010
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANNE SLOWEY, ELLE MAGAZINE, FASHION NEWS DIRECTOR, SAYING: "I think the clothes, the way they dress themselves, I mean a lot of it is you know beyond anything anyone would do but what it did do is help to make people feel like that there weren't any rules, there was no problem or reason to fe
- Embargoed: 4th June 2010 13:00
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- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA33GAUQYKHOLVKOBI3GSYFIB72
- Story Text: "Sex and the City" fans are already snapping up advance tickets for the highly-anticipated film sequel.
"Sex and the City" fans are gearing up for the release of the highly-anticipated sequel "Sex and the City 2", with hoards of women snapping up advance tickets to the film.
The entertainment industry said online ticket sales for "Sex and the City 2" - which isn't due to hit theatres for at least another week - had been strong for months.
"What's very interesting is that more than 50 per cent of the online ticket sales are for blocks of tickets of four or more, which means that women are going in groups, they're making a girls night out of it, and that's music to the studio's ears, no question about it," said Hollywood.com box office analyst Paul Dergarbedian.
The film sees the return of the fabulous foursome -- Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) -- as they carry on with their busy lives.
Author Candace Bushnell, who wrote the successful "Sex and the City" book series upon which the hugely-popular television show and films were based, said she's not surprised to hear that women were eagerly waiting to see what happens next in the sequel film.
"I think that women see themselves in those characters and they see their friends in those characters," Bushnell told Reuters.
On any given day in New York City's West Village, countless number of "Sex and the City" fans can be seen having their photograph taken outside Carrie Bradshaw's apartment at 66 Perry Street.
Around the corner, at the Magnolia Bakery, large numbers of women can be found buying cupcakes with fluffy icing.
The bakery shot to fame during the "Sex and the City" television series, when in one episode Carrie and Miranda devoured some of the cupcakes while discussing Carrie's love life.
"I'm actually on a Sex and the City tour, today," laughed British tourist, Alicia Cain.
The self-confessed "Sex and the City" fan said she couldn't wait to see the new film and had admitted that she had already bought her ticket.
"I've actually had it booked for a couple of weeks already. We're going to go to the cinema, the cinema we're going to go to is doing kind of cocktails, it's serving Cosmopolitans on the night. Got a big group of girls together," Cain said.
She's not alone. Florida fan Rebecca Goldberg said she planned a special "Sex and the City" night with her girlfriends.
"It's a girls night out, you know, have dinner and movie, it'll be fun," Goldberg said.
Australian tourist Emma Brown said she couldn't wait to get back home to see the sequel.
"I've asked actually friends to wait for me to see it, until I get home and they said forget it, we're going without you," Brown laughed.
Another fan Suzanne Ross said she was definitely keen to celebrate the new film's release.
"We were talking about possibly getting together, us and some other people and having a kind of party before hand and going to see the movie. And we're not sure what else afterwards, but yes we've been talking about that. And then we can tell people we were here!" said Ross.
For Elle Magazine's fashion news director, Anne Slowey, forget the cupcakes, it's all about the fashion.
"I think Sex and the City has had a phenomenal influence on the fashion industry, especially as it has exploded all over television and the internet. I don't think any of these reality TV shows that are on all the different channels about fashion would have had half the success had it not been for Sex and the City - just the TV show, forget the movie, the movie took it to a whole another global level," Slowey told Reuters.
"I think the clothes, the way they dress themselves, I mean a lot of it is you know beyond anything anyone would do but what it did do is help to make people feel like that there weren't any rules, there was no problem or reason to feel embarrassed about you know, feeling good about your body, feeling good about like flirting and flaunting it and you know, it's a lot of fun. That's the bottom line. Fashion is fun, Sex and the City is fun, it's the perfect marriage," Slowey said.
The first big-screen adaptation of the HBO television series proved to be a powerful magnet for female theatergoers, grossing more than 415 million U.S. dollars at the worldwide box office.
Dergarbedian said he expected "Sex and the City 2" to be even bigger.
"In all honesty even if the movie was terrible, women don't care. They want to go out and see these characters. They might not like it as much as the first film or the TV show. It hardly matters. It's an event. It's girl's night out and I think for a lot of women, this is their Star Wars. These are the characters that they love and they want to go out and see and enjoy it in groups and have that communal experience, especially in a movie theater. I think that will pay off big for Sex and the City," Dergarbedian said.
"Sex and the City 2" opens across North America on May 27. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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