This kind of snuck up on me. The Sandra Bullock film The Proposal has now surpassed Sex and the City in its domestic gross. Sex and the City earned almost $153 million and this week The Proposal passed $155 million and its still going.
Interesting.
I was just thinking back to when Sex and the City was released and how mean the reviews were. We got none of that vitriol with The Proposal. I guess we are very comfortable with a romantic comedy where the woman has to be transformed through love, yet four women who embrace themselves, their lives and their sexuality are scary.
I’m glad for the success of The Proposal (I liked the film), but I am still perplexed over a year later at the nastiness that greeted Sex and the City.
Wonder what will happen when Sex and the City 2 opens next year?
Quietly, ‘The Proposal’ Has Become a Romantic Comedy Goldmine (NY Times)
Why did the Proposal make more money than SATC? Maybe it’s because it was released over the summer, while SATC was released in the spring (if I’m not mistaken).
I don’t know, but if they release SATC 2 during the summer, it would definitely make a lot more money.
Timing is definitely a factor. I’d also say running time and niche audience. SATC was long and quite dramatic, whereas The Proposal has a more comfortable running time and is straight comedy, not related to a television show.
Here’s the thing, from my perspective; Sandra Bullock makes every character she plays likable in some way. They have a flaw that we can somehow relate too, and she is sure to play characters with a clearly defined arch. She makes movies that, ultimately, put a smile on people’s faces.
SATC doesn’t do that and frankly, it was too long a break from TV Show to movie. The characters have moved on but so have many of the viewers. I think their “relatability” has decreased over time.
We live in far different times than when the show was out and personally, I’ll take Bullock’s character over the Carrie Bradshaw any day.
My prediction: SATC 2 will do far worse than SATC 1.
Both opened in summer season. The Proposal on June 19th and Sex and the City on May 30.
I agree with Michelle! I found the SATC film to be overlong and not really any fun. I had enjoyed the TV series and 30 minutes at a time was just the right dose.
Also, the film’s focus on lavish, over-the-top lifestyles and spending seemed out of fashion, as many people were starting to feel financially fragile during the summer of 2008.
That’s good news to me! I’m glad Sandra Bullock can still pull in big numbers. Like Michelle said, Sandra Bullock has a girl-next-door quality that makes her extremely likable in romantic comedies. I didn’t watch SATC when it was on TV so I didn’t see in theaters and I don’t plan on seeing the next one either. But for the sake of women-driven films I hope it does well.
Well the Proposal has an advantage which is this it co-stars a man, which means more men are likely to see it. Sex and the City was a success based on mostly women alone. The Proposal is a movie women could more easily convince their male friends/boyfriends/husbands to come to.
You know, I disagree with the comment about the story involving a man. I thought The Proposal as a classic “Chick Flick”. None of my male friends have shown any interest in it for the fact there’s a guy, they show an interest because it’s Sandra Bullock.
I tried desperately to watch SATC and didn’t finish it. Big and Carrie are boring and really show their age. I don’t just mean chronologically. They are so shallow. And I find that these days, shallow isn’t interesting anymore for a lot of people.
“I thought The Proposal as a classic “Chick Flick”.”
As most people probably did. But it certainly screams classic chick flick LESS than Sex and the City.
I think it’s probably easier to get guys to go see a classic romantic comedy, because alot of guys are actually into romance!
I know (straight) guys who liked SATC as a TV series, because it was funny and they thought they got an “inside” scoop on how (some) women think.
I think there wasn’t really anywhere for the characters to go by the time they got to the movie – the Carrie/Big wedding story was just strange and it just turned into a long fashion montage. Boring.
i want proposal movie