There are two sides to every story! The obvious and most interesting fact is that Sex and the City was banned from being filmed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai despite writers basing the story in the region. The other fact that is starting to make headlines locally is the idea that the sequel will finally put the UAE on the world map in terms of tourism and fashion. So why was it that SATC producers still honoured the country after being turned away only to grant them what will surely be a huge economic push? Ahlan! located the opinion of two influential voices behind why Abu Dhabi is making headlines.
Michael Patrick King, the Writer and Producer of Sex and the City spoke to Collider.com about why he chose Abu Dhabi as the location of choice for the sequel. “Okay, that’s a big story. How much time have you got? Here’s what happened: When I finished the first movie I had no idea for a 2nd movie. And then I saw the parties around the world when the movies were being shown. Everybody was showing up dressed up and the movie was a big success and the opportunity came and the first thing I thought was, well I want this to be a party. And also because when I was writing the script we were in an economic downturn still, and still are around the world. So I thought, okay it’s a depression. In the Great Depression what did people do? What do people need? And I thought extravagance. Let’s put them on a big vacation.”
Hence why King landed in the dunes of the Middle East. “I thought about where there’s a lot of money with no shame attached and then I thought about the Middle East and because of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and their extravagance and their whole PR machine, which is it’s the new Middle East and the future. I thought, great and the idea of Samantha Jones, sexually liberated beyond anyone’s expectation going to the Middle East started to make me amused. So originally, we were going to film in Dubai and then Abu Dhabi but after I wrote the script and had been over there many times, it was like we went on a date with the Middle East. And then they decided we shouldn’t go on another date. The idea of sex and these liberated women being filmed there was a little too progressive for their…where they are right now. So we had to discover Abu Dhabi, which is where the movie takes place, in Marrakesh, in Africa, Rabat and Asweria. We got to film on like dunes where they filmed Laurence of Arabia."
So in between the strong traditions of the Middle East mixed with the desire of the UAE to still be considered on a global level, analyst are now happy to accept the publicity the film will grant the region. “Although the audience knows it is filmed somewhere else, it still has a positive impact on the destination where the movie is set,” Dr Ian Michael, a professor of marketing at Zayed University in Dubai told The National newspaper. “Research to date is proving that this benefits the place where the movie is set, in this case Abu Dhabi, and to a lesser extent where the movie is actually filmed.” And there you have it.
