Dubai Bans ‘Sex and the City’ Sequel Production, New York to Follow?

We wish! But that hedonistic desert capital has definitely done us all a favor by banning filming of selected scenes from the totally unnecessary Sex and the City sequel. This delays the film's eventual roll-out. Citing an uneasy tingling in their stomachs, the strict Muslim government of the United Arab Emirates (that's where Dubai is, folks!) says they can't allow a film with the word "sex" to film in their otherwise holy and not-at-all-sin-laden main tourist draw. Such an arbitrarily enforced rule has benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits: Even the curmudgeonliest of the anti-SATC faction can admit that Carrie and company wouldn’t fare well in such a hot climate, among a population where women largely don burqas, or are at least required to tailor their fashion to laws requiring modesty. This is good news for us because a snag in production means a delay for the inevitable media hoopla that’ll be unleashed once promotion for the film is underway. The benefit for the city of Dubai is that they’ll be spared the insipid bus tours and the kinds of tourists that such bus tours tend to draw.

Drawbacks: However, Dubai’s losing a lot of potential revenue. Not only the easy nickel-and-diming they could get away with the influx of wannabe Carrie Bradshaws, but also the type generated by having film cast and crews who live, imbibe, and eat on location. We can also rule out the comical discomfort of having to watch Charlotte York negotiate her way through this other world that is at once everything and nothing like Manhattan. Also, what this means is that apart from shooting all Dubai-ish scenes in some desert outside of Hollywood or Las Vegas, much of the story will probably be reworked to make sure that whatever final drops of soul are left in New York City will be completely wrung out. Or at least bottled up for the inevitable third and final film. Because Sex & the City is a lot like Lord of the Rings in that way.