Box office Sex and the City 2 was released in 3,445 theaters across North America on May 27, 2010, marking one of the widest openings for an R-rated romantic comedy. It earned $3 million from its midnight screenings in 2,000 locations. On its opening day, the film grossed $14.2 million, initially projecting a $60 million four-day total and up to $75 million across the five-day
Memorial Day weekend. Ultimately, the film debuted in second place behind
Shrek Forever After, earning $31 million over the traditional three-day weekend and $45.2 million over four days. Its five-day Memorial Day total reached $51 million. Internationally, the film topped box office charts in several major markets, including Germany for five consecutive weeks, the United Kingdom for three weeks, and Australia for two weeks. It also surpassed the performance of the original film in territories such as Japan and Greece. In multiple markets, the sequel sold more tickets than its predecessor. As of August 19, 2010, the film had grossed $95.3 million in the United States and Canada, with an additional $199.3 million from international markets, bringing its worldwide total to $294.7 million.[4] Although this was approximately 27% lower than the global earnings of the first film,
Sex and the City 2 was the highest-grossing romantic comedy of 2010.
Critical response Sex and the City 2 was critically panned. On the
review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes,
Sex and the City 2 holds an approval rating of 16% based on 217 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. In comparison, the first film scored 49% based on 183 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The critical consensus reads: "Straining under a thin plot stretched to its limit by a bloated running time,
Sex and the City 2 adds an unfortunate coda to the long-running HBO series." On
Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film faced widespread criticism, particularly for its depiction of
Middle Eastern culture. Stephen Farber of
The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "blatantly
anti-Muslim", while
Hadley Freeman of
The Guardian called the trailers "borderline
racist". Andrew O'Hagan of the
Evening Standard wrote that the film "could be the most stupid, the most racist, the most polluting and women-hating film of the year."
Roger Ebert awarded it one out of four stars, criticizing the characters as "flyweight bubbleheads", the narration as redundant, and the visual presentation as "arthritic".
Lindy West, writing for
The Stranger, published a widely discussed review, stating that the film "takes everything that I hold dear as a woman and as a human... and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car," further criticizing its excessive runtime and perceived lack of substance. British critic
Mark Kermode also gave a strongly negative review, later naming it the worst film of 2010, stating he could think of nothing "more poisonous, more repugnant, more repulsive, more retrograde, more depressing than
Sex and the City 2."
Time included it in its list of the "10 Worst Movies Based on TV Shows". == Accolades ==