"Sex and the City 2" arrived in theaters minutes after midnight Thursday with roughly the same scene as the original: packs of fabulously dressed women, lining up at the bar, the box office, and … maybe the bar again.
Never mind those terrible reviews. Warner Bros. and New Line’s sequel scored a dismal 11 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the negative bluster has been particularly harsh for the two-and-a-half-hour movie that flaunts its style over substance.But "Sex 2" is the very definition of a review-proof movie. It’s escapist entertainment to the degree that the content of the film itself is almost immaterial, transcending a night at the movies and becoming a must-do social event.
With the first film, planning with friends, dressing up in fancy clothes, slipping into Christian Louboutins and having a few drinks was a spontaneous response; this time around, it’s a prerequisite to an already hot-selling movie.
Back in March, the "Sex and the City" sequel ranked No. 3 on MovieTickets.com’s poll of the most anticipated spring films, beating out "Prince of Persia" and "Robin Hood," and narrowly trailing "Shrek Forever After." When advance tickets were made available in April, the film sold more tickets than "Kick-Ass," which was currently in theaters at the time.
And of midday Tuesday, MovieTickets.com reported 305 sellouts for the film, which was accounting for 80 percent of Tuesday’s ticket sales. By the evening, that number had swelled to 595 sellouts, accounting for 85 percent of all ticket sales for the day.
The early signs proved accurate. The film’s opening at midnight Thursday morning turned out to be 20% better than the first film.
Picking up on the queues of the first “Sex and the City” film – when audiences headed for the local Cineplex were dressed for a red carpet – several theater chains are hosting special events.
In New York, Clearview Cinemas is showing "Sex 2" for 40 continuous hours at its Chelsea Cinemas in Manhattan. From Thursday at 9 a.m. to Saturday at 1 a.m., Clearview will offer a whopping total of 55 showtimes.
The chain kicked off the marathon with an opening night reception including complimentary refreshments and giveaways.
"We had a tremendous response to our first ‘Sex and the City’ movie marathon, so it seemed only fitting to offer fans and moviegoers alike the same experience for ‘Sex and the City 2,’" said Doug Oines, senior vice president and general manager of Clearview Cinemas.
Regal Theater’s Marketing Head Dick Westerling told Perez Hilton that women were "reserving limousines and making restaurant reservations" weeks in advance in anticipation of the sequel’s release.
Meanwhile, the ArcLight in Hollywood is offering a special "Sex and the City 2" 21+ party package for opening weekend. The $70 ticket will get you two drink coupons for SKYY specialty cocktails, as well as unlimited appetizers prepared by an in-house Chef.
Elsewhere, the Landmark Theatre in Los Angeles hosted an exclusive opening-party and screening for Film Club Members over 21. A special 9 p.m. screening included free-flowing pink champagne and Cosmopolitans, plus light appetizers and prizes for the most outrageous and best-dressed attendees.
The film opened in 2,000 theaters and with WB’s strong marketing machine behind it, it’s is expected to outgross Disney’s "Prince of Persia" by a wide margin, with recent tracking reports predicting an opening in the $60 million range over the five-day period.
The original "Sex and the City" was released the week after Memorial Day and grossed a staggering $415 million worldwide on a production budget of $65 million, a comparable figure to the budget of the sequel, which WB decided to open over the holiday weekend because "the franchise is ready for that," according to the studio’s distribution chief Dan Fellman.
Monday’s tracking reported 88 percent total awareness for women. Now all the sequel has to do is slip on a new pair of Jimmy Choos and strut its stuff in theaters.
