Film

A ‘Sex & The City’ Reboot Sans Samantha Is Happening, And The Internet Began To Wonder, Why?

"SATC without Samantha would literally just be a show about three judgmental prudes"

by Jared Richards  24 December 2020
'Sex & The City' reboot going ahead without Kim Cattrall, and we begin to wonder, how?

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

HBO is eyeing off a Sex & The City reboot, with four out of the five integral cast members — Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, New York and Kristen Davis — reportedly on-board. But, given SJP and Kim Cattrall’s very public fall-out, it’s unlikely that the sex-crazed Samantha will return.

As reported by industry site Deadline, HBO is eager to reboot their classic show for streaming service HBO Max as a limited series. Everyone by Cattrall is eager, which isn’t exactly a surprise. She repeatedly expressed that she’s done with the series, and Deadline reports, in short, that hasn’t changed: the difference now is that the show could go ahead without her. And no-one is too happy online.

Sex & The City almost received a third film, with production beginning in 2017 before Cattrall stepped back over issues with the script. The film was set to centre around the death of Carrie’s beau Mr. Big, which Cattrall reportedly took issue with, thinking the film would centre Carrie and side-line the friendship of the four women.

Related
An Actress Has Recreated Iconic 'Sex And The City' Scenes With Her Cat As Samantha

Samantha’s plotline for the film also reportedly revolved around receiving a nude photo from Miranda’s teenage son, and Cattrall wasn’t impressed.

Since the show originally aired from 1998 to 2004, tabloids reported tensions between the cast — most prominently, between Parker and Cattrall, with rumours the latter was unhappy with the payrise the former received when becoming an executive producer from season two. Elle has a run-down of the alleged feud across the years.

After S&TC3 stalled, Cattrall has repeatedly hinted that Parker ostracised her during filming, and was ‘never nice’ to her — a NY Post story alleged that none of the main cast talked to Cattrall off-set by the end of the show’s run.

In 2018, after the death of her brother, Cattrall slammed Parker on Instagram for her ‘hypocritical’ behaviour by contacting her.

“Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now,” she wrote in the still-available post. “Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona.”

Cattrall, who recently starred in Filthy Rich, cancelled after one season, told The Guardian last year that she’d had “enough” with ‘playing Samantha’ by Sex & The City: The Movie 2.

‘I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t just replace me with another actress instead of wasting time bullying,” she said. “No means no.”

Looks like HBO has finally gotten the message, but the news has been received with little enthusiasm, as fans can’t imagine a version of S&TC without Samantha, the one character who wasn’t prudish when it came to sex.

We will always have Saving Sex & The City 3, the podcast where writer Lara Marie Schoenhals invites famous S&TC fans such as Jordan Firstman, Dan Levy and Betty Who to imagine their own version of the ill-fated film.

Then again, perhaps there is a perfect Samantha out there, ready to be cast: via TikTok, this cat has really nailed reenacting character’s very particular air.