Sex And the City – First Pictures from the Movie Set

Sex and the City will certainly be back with a vengeance. The big screen movie that picks up the iconic TV series' quirky cast and even quirkier joys and worries of life in modern New York definitely looks promising. Yesterday was in fact the first day of filming, and despite the producers' careful shielding of the cast and crew as they went about their work, some photos already leaked out, giving us all a chance at catching bits and pieces of what the hotly anticipated movie will be all about.

Well, looks like Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is back in her killer stiletto heels and more than that, she's back in Mr. Big's arms. Noth and Parker were seen sharing a hot kiss – but the cameras were rolling, so don't get any ideas. Sigh. The fact is, Parker looks like her usual Carrie Bradshaw self, wearing a fashionable outfit and sporting just about the most ridiculous bag I saw this year and that's shaped like an Eiffel tower.

But I used to like the show too much to think bad about it from day one of filming, and so I take the Eiffel bag to be not so much a yard sale souvenir as some sort of strange reminder of Carrie and Big declaring their love for one another in the French capital in the series’ last episode – which by the way was watched by around 4 million people when it originally aired on Channel 4 in March 2004.

The Sex and the City film has been eagerly awaited and anticipated by fans, but its producers delayed it because of financial misunderstandings. In other words, rumor has it that Parker and costar Kim Cattrall (who portrays the raunchy Samantha) had a series of rows concerning their paychecks. But it looks like it's all sunshine and daisies again – and the entire cast is hard at work on the set. The veterans – Parker, Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon – are joined by Cris Noth and a fresh addition, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson who will be playing Carrie's assistant.

The film is due for release next summer, and I do hope it's going to be at least half as fresh and open-minded as the series used to be, although usually I keep skeptic about sequels and prequels to really good movies and TV series. Maybe this time I'll be proved wrong – I hope I will, and I am looking forward to a real treat.

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