Sex and the Medina?

It is hard to imagine a more peculiar pairing than the light and fluffy American TV series Sex and the City and the Kingdom of Morocco. Even harder to imagine why such a notion would come to mind. But read on and be ...er... surprised?

Well this month the sequel to Sex and the City ( the movie) is being filmed and rumour has it that as much as five weeks of the sequel's production time will be spent in Morocco. Which cast members will be part of the Morocco shoot, or why they're going there, remains a mystery.

It is also a mystery as to where in Morocco such a shoot might take place. Fez? Mmm - seems doubtful. However the hedonistic folk in Marrakech may well be able to provide just the right ambiance. The View from Fez will be happy to publish any tips, hints, sightings and (of course) your paparazzi shots!

Are they really heading to Morocco?

Speculation is rife. Katey Rich, writing for the website Cinema blend.com says...

"There are some obvious explanations for what would bring the shoot to Morocco - Carrie and Big take a honeymoon there, or someone wants to adopt a kid and Morocco stands in for a war-torn African country. But while we're speculating, why not have some fun with it? Maybe someone mistakes Carrie for a legitimate journalist and sends her to cover something in a war zone. Morocco has stood in for the Middle East multiple times, like Body of Lies and Babel. Or maybe Miranda, in a fit of do-gooder-ism, goes to offer legal services to oppressed minorities or women, or Doctors Without Borders, for all I know. Or maybe Samantha moves her PR business to Dubai! Anything is possible!"

Dubai it seems was a problem. According to Christine from On Location Vacations: Producers of the Sex and the City sequel are scrambling to find a new location for key scenes in the movie after they were denied permission to film in the conservative United Arab Emirates. The majority of the film will still be filmed in New York City but the movie was scheduled to shoot for two weeks in London and Dubai as well. After obtaining a copy of the script, government officials in Dubai have refused to give filmmakers access to the city. Early reports had suggested authorities in the country were not keen on having the word ’sex’ in the title.

Other bloggers are suggesting the whole story has been over-hyped. Don’t believe the hype. Cinema Blend is reporting that Sex and the City 2 began filming “quietly” in New York City last week. Their evidence? A “no parking” sign in midtown for the “Untitled Project” from Warner Bros. But we know that the mysterious Untitled Warner Brothers signs are actually for Gossip Girl.
Cinema Blend also claims that the movie will film for as long as five weeks in Morocco. It is possible the film will spend some time in Morocco since their plans to film in Dubai were nixed and it has been confirmed they will spend at least two weeks in London but it doubtful that five weeks of the entire shoot will be spent in Morocco, the movie is called “Sex and the City” after all.


Sex and the City started life as an American cable television series, broadcast on HBO from 1998 until 2004, for a total of six seasons.

Set in New York City, the show focused on four women, three in their mid-thirties and one in her forties. The quirky drama/comedy had multiple continuing story lines and tackled socially relevant issues such as sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex, and promiscuity. It specifically examined the lives of big-city professional women in the late 1990s and how changing roles and expectations for women affected the characters.

Next came Sex and the City - the movie. The film première was in London's Leicester Square on May 28, and May 30, 2008 in the US with an unprecedented $55.7 million three-day gross. The début made Sex and the City the top-opening R-rated romantic comedy of all time.