[2] It is a continuation of the 1998–2004 television series about four friends, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon),[2] and their lives in New York City.

Taking place a few years after the events of the television series, Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big are in a committed relationship.

[a] Meanwhile, Charlotte York is happily married to Harry, and the couple have adopted a Chinese girl named Lily, Miranda Hobbes has settled down in Brooklyn with Steve to raise their son Brady together, and Samantha Jones has moved to Los Angeles to be close with Smith, but returns to New York as much as possible to spend time with Carrie, Charlotte and Miranda.

Concerned that she would have no legal rights to their home if they separate, Carrie offers to sell her own apartment to help pay for the penthouse.

In L.A., Samantha struggles with her lust for her sexually voracious neighbor, Dante, while Smith works long hours shooting a popular T.V.

She goes home to find numerous emails from him, which Louise had hidden at Carrie's request, all famous love letters.

HBO announced that Michael Patrick King was working on a possible script for the film which he would direct.

[3] Later that year, Kim Cattrall declined to work on the project citing reasons that the script and the start date were overly prolonged and she decided to take other offers at hand.

The project was pitched within the Time Warner family (owners of HBO) and was picked by sister concern New Line Cinema.

The shooting was continually interrupted by paparazzi and onlookers with the security and police authorities employed in order to control the crowd.

[9] As a defense strategy, scenes shot in public or in presence of number of extras were termed by Ryan Jonathan Healy and the main cast as "dream sequences".

[14] While Samantha's dressing was influenced by American TV soap opera Dynasty (see Nolan Miller), Jackie Kennedy was the inspiration for Charlotte's clothes.

The film's international premiere took place on May 12, 2008, at Odeon West End in London's Leicester Square to an audience of 1700.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Sex and the City loses steam in the transition to the big screen, but will still thrill fans of the show.

She praised Michael Patrick King's work saying very few films "are willing to go to such dark places while remaining a comedy in the Shakespearean sense".

[29] Colin Bertram of the New York Daily News dubbed the film a "great reunion", and was happy with the return of "The 'Oh, my God, they did not just do that!'

"[31] Michael Rechtshaffen at The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of the four leading ladies and said the film kept the essence of the series, but resembled a super-sized episode.

[32] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times found the film "a vulgar, shrill, deeply shallow — and, at 2 hours and 22 turgid minutes, overlong — addendum to a show",[33] while The Daily Telegraph's Sukhdev Sandhu panned the film saying "the ladies have become frozen, Spice Girls-style types - angsty, neurotic, predatory, princess - rather than individuals who might evolve or surprise us".

[34] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail slammed the film commenting on lack of script and adding that the characters "don't perform so much as parade, fixed in their roles as semi-animated clothes hangers on a cinematic runway".

[35] Anthony Lane, a film critic for The New Yorker, called the film a "superannuated fantasy posing as a slice of modern life"; he noted that "almost sixty years after All About Eve, which also featured four major female roles, there is a deep sadness in the sight of Carrie and friends defining themselves not as Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, and Thelma Ritter did—by their talents, their hats, and the swordplay of their wits—but purely by their ability to snare and keep a man....All the film lacks is a subtitle: "The Lying, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe.

"[36] Ramin Setoodeh of Newsweek speculated that some of the criticism for the film is derived possibly from sexism: "when you listen to men talk about it (and this is coming from the perspective of a male writer), a strange thing happens.

"[24] The film featured on worst of 2008 lists including that of The Times,[37] Mark Kermode, The New York Observer,[38] the NME,[39] and The Daily Telegraph.

There is a standard, single disc theatrical cut (the version seen in theaters) which comes in fullscreen or widescreen (in separate editions).

The set also comes with an exclusive hardcover book, featuring photos and quotes from the film, and a numbered certificate of authenticity in a pink padded box.

It is way ahead of the 700,000 copies sold for Ratatouille which was, prior to Sex and the City's release, the best selling DVD of 2008 in the UK.

It also features cameos from Liza Minnelli, Miley Cyrus, Tim Gunn, Ron White, Omid Djalili, and Penélope Cruz, as well as Broadway actors Norm Lewis, Kelli O'Hara, and Ryan Silverman.