‘Sex and the City 3’ — Who Would’ve Died, Why It Didn’t Happen & More
Fans of Sex and the City have been given more than most in terms of screen time from their favorite gal pals Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), but chances of a third movie were squashed when a feud between Cattrall and the cast (mostly Parker) reportedly occurred.
Since those rumors, Parker, Nixon and Davis spoke about the nixed movie, their treatment when the series aired, and more. Part of James Andrew Miller’s Origins podcast episode “Sex and the City: 1, 2, & Out,” the actresses opened up about the movie falling apart, on whether the show would exist today, and the juxtaposition in treatment between them and the men of The Sopranos. Released by Cadence13, the podcast is available for listening here.
In regards to the movie, much of it fell apart because of Cattrall’s reluctance to do the project. According to Miller, Cattrall wasn’t thrilled with the script for her character nor the contract.
“People close to Kim believe she never wanted to do the third movie. Period. And they point to two large issues that made it impossible for anyone close to her to talk her into doing it,” Miller says.
The first reason Miller claims is that Cattrall found the pay divide to be “unequal and unfair,” while the second reason relied on the fact that her character’s story would be overshadowed by a major death. Mr. Big (Chris Noth) was supposedly going to meet his maker in the third film after a heart attack in the shower which would make the film more about Carrie rather than “about the relationship between the four women.”
Parker and Noth in the series.
Of course, Parker was one of the main individuals that Cattrall mentioned when she revealed she wouldn’t return for a third movie, but Parker doesn’t want people to think she’s in a “catfight.”
“I’ve not publicly ever said anything unfriendly, unappreciative about Kim, because that’s not how I feel about her, ” the actress says.
She continues this stance, revealing that if things had been as bad as the rumors claim to be, “we just couldn’t have functioned… I would’ve had stomach aches every day if it was a place that wasn’t happy, or healthy, or productive, or people weren’t being treated well.”
Parker reveals she did all she could to try and make it happen, but in the end, it wasn’t up to her. “We did negotiate through the process, and ultimately, the studio said, ‘We can’t meet those asks of hers. We’re not able to do it…the economics don’t make sense for us.’
“So then it’s over, but that’s not a character assassination; that’s just the way business works.”
The show’s executive producer and director of the films, Michael Patrick King, stood up for Parker’s character, saying, “She’s warm. Her door is open. I used to call her ‘The Star Next Door,’ because she was really the neighbor girl, in your neighborhood that you loved. But she could be the star as well.”
King says that while the show and previous films were a great time for everyone involved, “for some reason Kim thinks something happened to her on that show that was not good for her.”
Perhaps the cast’s treatment by the media in the late ’90s and early ’00s had something to do with it, as Davis shares that when the cast worked close to fellow HBO production The Sopranos they’d notice their fights or tiffs behind-the-scenes.
“Yet, when it’s women, of course, then it has to have entire articles written about it. And people have to be the good guy and the bad guy and the good girl or the bad girl. Whatever it is, which is insane. And, it gets very warped.”
Nixon, Davis, Parker and Cattrall.
Despite the arguments and unceremonious end to the series and films, Parker still believes the show is worthy of watching even if it’s dated in its reflection of a time that’s less progressive in its ideas and motivations.
“The reason the show can be watched today, and is with such enthusiasm, and more and more audiences watch it — I think it’s not because of the socio-economic and political stuff, it’s the friendship and the search for love.”
Sadly, that love appears to have stalled for future projects, but thankfully, there are still plenty of reasons to binge the original series.
Sex and the City, Streaming now, HBO Go
Sex and the City (1998) where to stream
