The Sex and the City franchise just got a whole lot younger. No, Sarah Jessica Parker didn’t stumble on Capt. Jack Sparrow’s beloved Fountain of Youth. Instead, the rumors of a Sex reboot with younger actresses in the now-iconic roles of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha appear to be coming true.
The Daily Mail--one of those British tabloids that has trafficked in completely crazy Sex and the City rumors for a while now, mind you-- reports that a prequel based on author Candace Bushnell’s two recent novels The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City will follow the characters from the beloved HBO series through their teenage years and into their early twenties. And get a load of the names the producers reportedly want for the roles. Carrie reportedly would be played by 22-year-old Elizabeth Olsen, sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley who is about to break out once audiences catch her in the unnerving Martha Marcy May Marlene. Olsen would be joined by marquee names Selena Gomez (as neurotic Charlotte), Emma Roberts (as sensible Miranda) Blake Lively (as sex-crazed Samantha).
Needless to say, the newshas not gone over too well with Parker, who played Carrie Bradshaw in 94 HBO episodes and two feature-length films. Back when the rumors first started circulating, Parker told New York Magazine that going back and exploring the character’s early days would "create two histories" that could confuse fans. Please. If Star Trek and X-Men fans could swallow reboots of their complicated franchises, I think SATC followers will be able to accept a younger version of the cherished columnist.
But Bushnell, who created the characters, gets the last word on the matter and has said, “Every character has a backstory -- what the reader sees, in a sense, is the tip of the iceberg. The characters don't exist in a vacuum. … We see different sides of the characters, which make them much more complex and interesting.”
I couldn’t agree more. And after the dreadfully garish Sex and the City 2, "complex" and "interesting" is exactly what this series needs. The casting could feel right, though of course, there's a pretty slim chance they'll get all four of these women to sign on. If more Sex is in the cards, this seems like it could be the right way to go.
