Four years, over 1,000 costume changes and endless rumours and internet leaks later, Sex and the City: The Movie will hold its world premiere in London tonight. The film, the first spin-off from the long-running TV programme which followed the lives and loves of four New York women and was credited with everything from sparking hundreds of fashion trends to undoing decades of feminism, is one of the most highly anticipated openings of the year and has been trailed with an unprecedented but unsurprising amount of international publicity.
But to use one of the leading character Carrie's favourite phrases, one couldn't help but wonder whether the wait will be worth it.
That the premiere is being held in London instead of New York, which is often referred to as the programme's "fifth character", has been taken by some as ominous. The film is being screened in Berlin on Thursday and will finally show in New York on May 27.
New Line, the film's producers, insist that the decision was taken purely to maximise the "global appeal".
Others, though, have suggested that by premiering in Europe the filmmakers are taking the "soft opening" approach, safely testing foreign public reaction before braving New York's more glaring critical lights. That most of the movie's cast is not even coming tonight for the premiere would seem to confirm that suspicion.
There have been other concerns. Two weeks ago Oprah Winfrey held a Sex and the City special on her show in anticipation of the film. However, one of the programme and film's key figures, the producer Michael Patrick King, could only appear via satellite linkup because he was still in the studio editing the film, just three weeks before it was due to open.
The trailer, which was released several weeks ago, has had a mixed reaction among bloggers, primarily because it looks as if it gives away most of the movie: Carrie, the main character played by Sarah Jessica Parker, is shown being jilted at the altar; Miranda, the lawyer played by Cynthia Nixon, is cheated on by her husband and Charlotte, played by Kristin Davis, adopts a Chinese baby. Jennifer Hudson, the young woman who was voted off reality TV show American Idol only to later win a best supporting actress Oscar for her role in the film Dreamgirls, plays Carrie's PA.
Despite the TV programme's title, the show increasingly became more about fashion than just about New York or romance. Many brands, fashion and otherwise, pursued the producers to appear in the film. Alongside the latest designer bags and shoes, Mercedes is getting a starring role in the movie, with one of the characters driving the company's latest model, the new GLK. But many blogs have complained that the movie will now just be "a myriad of product placement opportunities", as jezebel.com put it. The producer of the movie, John Melfi, boasted to Variety magazine that "you could name pretty much any of the biggest designers out there and they have something in the movie", adding that most did it for "special thanks".
Despite the qualms, the movie is unlikely to completely fail. The last episode of the show was watched by 4.1 million viewers in this country alone. But the formula has not proven failsafe for the makers. After the show ended, Michael Patrick King executive-produced the TV show Cashmere Mafia, an all but identical programme featuring four glamorous women in New York. It was critically derided and cancelled after three months.