It may have been off the air for four years but it seems that absense does indeed make the heart grow fonder. Fans of the racy cable comedy-drama “Sex in the City” flocked to theaters this weekend to watch the big screen version of the show which stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. The “Sex” movie took in an estimated $55.7 million dollars in its first three days of release making it the biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy. “American Pie” had previously held the record with $45.1 million dollars back in 1999. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” fell to second place with a gross of $46 million dollars, bringing its accumulated total to $216.8 million dollars so far.

Talk of a “Sex in the City 2” has already begun. Shortly before the movie’s release gossip had been floating around that the movie’s producers had signed all of the film’s stars to sequel options in their contracts. One insider told a British newspaper that “They want it to be a franchise and think they can stretch it over at least a trilogy.”

After years of speculation plans are officially underway for a big screen “Sex and the City” movie. The film would reunite all four main actresses from the HBO television series, Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie), Kim Cattrall (Samantha), Kristin Davis (Charlotte) and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda). Michael Patrick King, one of the executive producers on the TV series, will direct the movie. New Line Cinema will release the film and filming is slated to begin sometime this fall for a 2008 release.

At this time no one knows what the movie storyline is about or whether it will pick up things from the last time we saw our four ladies living in New York City. At the conclusion of the series Carrie had made the choice to live her life with Mr. Big, Miranda had become a mother, Charlotte was going to adopt a baby and Samantha had just recovered from a life-threatening illness. Would a “Sex in the City” movie push the envelope into even racier territory than the show’s creators did when it was on the tube?

One of the unconfirmed rumors heard about why it has taken so long for a movie to be made concerns the demands of Kim Cattrall. Supposedly the actress asked for salary comparable to what Sarah Jessica Parker was getting as well as creative control over the storyline for her sex-obsessed character. The story being told off-the-record is that Cattrall got everything that she held out for including a deal that would guarantee her own cable TV series in the future.