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NEW YORK - Time has flown for fans of Carrie Bradshaw and her three gal-pals on the hit television series Sex and the City which aired its last original episode on the HBO cable channel in the United States all the way back in 2004.
Their patience for a long-promised reprise on the big screen may have been about to run out.
New Line Cinema is close to inking a deal to finance and distribute the film in association with HBO, John Smith, a representative at New Line, confirmed Thursday.
Daily Variety reported the news Wednesday. Smith said its report was accurate and did not provide further details.
The Hollywood trade paper reported that the shooting of a film version of Sex and the City sometime in autumn (spring NZ time).
Most importantly, all four female leads - Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Carrie, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis - have supposedly all agreed to the big-screen reunion.
There is no word so far, on which of their many male suitors and partners may return, although Chris Noth, who played Carrie's heartbreaker Mr Big, is also expected to appear in the closing credits.
Reviving the Manhattan antics of Carrie, with her wardrobe of Manolo Blahnik shoes and designer dresses, reportedly took so long because of contract disputes specifically with Ms Catrall.
Celebrity websites long speculated that she was holding out to be paid on a par with Ms Parker, who was paid more for the television show because of her role as an executive producer.
Variety also reports that as part of the film deal, Ms Catrall has also been assured future roles in upcoming HBO programming.
Ms Parker, who won an Emmy Award as Carrie, tried to play down the rumours about a split between the actresses earlier this year in an interview when she launched her own 'Bitten' clothing line.
"It is a very complicated puzzle to put back," she said at time, "but not for the reason that people speculate about, because as far as I know, all of the actresses want to be together again for this movie."
Asked if a film was in the offing, she replied, "Never say never."
Most of the original production team are expected also to reunite for the film of Sex and the City originally inspired by a newspaper column by Candace Bushnell about her adventures in dating and romancing in a cocktail-soaked Manhattan.
The executive producer of the TV show, Patrick King, has already written the film's script, while series producer John Melfi and the series creator Darren Starr have reportedly also signed on for the New Line project.
First aired in 1998, Sex and the City quickly became a hit for HBO, which like New Line is owned by Time Warner.
It allowed it to emerge from the shadows of the traditional network broadcasters as a company able to producer first-rate comedy and drama.
It followed up soon afterwards with its other stand-out success, The Sopranos, a drama series about a dysfunctional Mafia family in New Jersey.
- INDEPENDENT
