May 16, 2008

After only three screenings of the highly anticipated "Sex and the City" movie, leading lady and producer Sarah Jessica Parker is already being asked about a sequel. Insisting she's not trying to dodge the question, Parker says, "Getting to this point has been the sole professional focus of my life for the last two years. I never thought I would be sitting here talking to you on this day about this movie. I swear I'm not making this up, [but director] Michael [Patrick King] and I talk at the end of each of these [interview] days and we cannot believe this is happening. So, to think beyond this is greedy, you know?"

That's not a "No," but we'll come back to that later.

Trivia game: Test your knowledge of award-winning films

Continuing where the landmark HBO series left off four years ago, the movie finds Parker comfortably back in the Manolo Blahniks of Carrie Bradshaw, a best-selling writer who has made a career out of dissecting the love lives of her closest friends as they dish on men while enjoying the best Cosmos in the city's hottest clubs. The show ended with Carrie finally together with the elusive Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and her three best girlfriends, Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin "taking a break from family films" Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia "I now have Tony and Emmy awards" Nixon), seemingly finding their true loves.

Originally, King, also the TV show's executive producer, planned to shoot a movie within a year of the series' end, but when negotiations with Cattrall fell apart (more on that in the coming weeks), the movie died. Although Parker enjoyed solo success in films such as "The Family Stone" and "Failure to Launch," she was determined not to let a big-screen version of "Sex" die. Beginning in April 2006, Parker planted the seeds to resurrect the film by picking up the phone and "putting the pieces back together again." Convincing the entire cast to return wasn't the biggest challenge in making the movie. Parker notes, "I will tell you that the men were as complicated as the women, so just break all the myths and rumors."

Finding a home for the film after Warner Bros. (stupidly) passed was a more difficult endeavor. Luckily, New Line Cinema came on board and embraced the property the way Parker hoped.

"It was important to me that it remain in the Time Warner family -- that it was someone that feels proprietary about this franchise the way Michael Patrick and I do. [A studio] who wanted to tell the story we wanted to tell, which is not the conventional romantic comedy," Parker says. "You don't do a second and most of a third act with bleakness."

According to Parker, the perfunctory details of securing soundstages and getting most of the show's original crew back in an incredibly short prep time was harder than anything else. She notes, "The people? Not that complicated. I think that everybody just wanted to be there so much."

In regards to a film sequel (which her co-stars are all for), Parker places it in the hands of the fans.

"It's not up to us anyway," Parker says. "You will all have your opinions and your colleagues across the country will have their opinions and then there is the audience."

But then, with a glowing smile that hasn't left her face during the entire interview, she adds, "This has been a dream."

"Sex and the City" opens nationwide May 30.

Sound off: Comment on this story | Also: Features archive

Next: Parker Walks Carrie's Rough Road