Yesterday, I appeared on Bob Steel’s radio show on KARN to talk summer movies. Obviously, the hot topic was the opening of “Sex and the City,” the film adaptation of the popular HBO series (which, admittedly, I did not watch). I raised the question of whethe women would (or could) truly dominate the box office. It was raised in the context that no film, at least in my memory, has been so aimed at women. Let’s face it, “Sex and the City” isn’t a guy’s movie. Moreover, it became a imposing cultural phenomenon among women of all ages. After all, was the cosmopolitan a popular drink before the show aired? Not to mention all of the clothes and shoes and . . . drama?

We took an unscientific poll in our office to try and gauge the interest in the film. 11 of 15 women indicated that they “definitely” would see it this weekend. So last night, I ventured to a local movie house to check it out. The theater was packed with women (the woman sitting next to me counted only 5 guys, including me, in the audience). The lobby was packed. A large group of thirty-somethings arrived in a limosine. As one of my co-workers had observed earlier in the day, “Blake, the hype is THE HYPE! Everyone’s talking about this film.” She was spot-on.

Nikkie Finke of LA Weekly notes, “Talk about great Sex! Friday’s opening was a sold-out blow-out!” She predicts that it may bring in $75 million this weekend, which is a huge number. And it certainly answers my question.

I’ll have more on this topic over at In Contention, and I’ll review the film at the Moviegoer later today.

UPDATE: My post at In Contention is up. Dana Stevens, the sharp film critic from Slate, leads an online discussion with Erinn Bucklan, Meghan O’Rourke and June Thomas. The AP has a story on the men brave enough to see the film.

UPDATE II: Timothy Noah over at Slate asks, “Is ‘Sex and the City’  the consolation prize to Hillary Clinton supporters?”  “Sex and the City and the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton will, at the very least, be perceived in the distant future as twin manifestations of a weirdly conflicted feminism,” he observes.