Who knew a movie about four women obsessed with designer shoes and frilly cocktails would elicit top-level secrecy usually reserved for the makers of Twilight. Still, when paparazzi photos leaked of a script in Kim Cattrall's hand — with a mention of Samantha's sexy ex, Smith Jerrod — the studio decided to stop at nothing to keep every plot detail under wraps.
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Here's how they did it:
1. Confidentiality Agreements
Actors, production managers, and editors signed two-page agreements saying that anyone who revealed plot points would be slapped with a fine of $2.5 million, according to a source close to the production crew.
2. Unphotocopyable Paper
Scripts were printed on antiscan security paper, so if anyone tried to duplicate a page, the words "do not copy" would print all over it, making it impossible to read.
3. Monogrammed Scripts
Every page of every script was watermarked with the name of the actor or crew member to whom it belonged, so if pages were leaked, the mole could be identified.
4. Government Aid
For any location filming on public streets, the New York City Film Commission created signs that read "Untitled Avery Pic."
5. Phony Scenes
Director Michael Patrick King staged elaborate decoy shoots to throw off curious fans. The most popular? When Cattrall dashed up Fifth Avenue in a white wedding dress this past September. Still, the kitschy '80s flashback scene, in which Sarah Jessica Parker dresses up in a Madonna-inspired ensemble, seems to be legit.
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So, what secrets are they hiding, exactly?
Well, they gave away what might be their biggest spoiler in the new TV trailers: John Corbett, who starred as Carrie Bradshaw's carpenter beau Aidan Shaw in the HBO series, will reunite with the New Yorker — now married to Mr. Big — in the Middle Eastern desert.
"Aidan may or may not be married," Corbett said in a recent interview, after months of denying his involvement in the sequel. "It doesn't seem like things are going that well in Carrie's marriage."
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Other cameos include Liza Minnelli, Penélope Cruz, and Miley Cyrus, who wears the same dress as Samantha to a red carpet event.
For all the other secrets, curious fans will have to wait until the movie hits theaters on May 27.
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