Six years ago, the timeline of Sex and the City was expanded with a new TV show that followed Carrie Bradshaw as a teenager. Prequel The Carrie Diaries was based on SATC creator Candance Bushnell’s 2010 book of the same name, but it never became a global phenomenon in the same way as its predecessor.

The Carrie Diaries ended up being cancelled after just two seasons, but not before teaching us a few things about Carrie’s official backstory. We learned that she grew up in a small town in Connecticut; her mother died when she was 16; and she was offered a job at Interview magazine straight out of high school. We also got a glimpse as to how she and Samantha met: through a flat-share, naturally.

Now, the creators of Sex and the City are looking to extend the concept of the classic series in the opposite direction. A new TV series will pick up the story of Sex and the City several decades later – focusing on 50-something women’s experiences of sex, dating and friendship in New York. 

The series will be based on Is There Still Sex in the City?, the forthcoming novel by Bushnell, which is due to be released in the UK and US in August 2019. Set between Manhattan’s Upper East Side and a fictional country retreat known as The Village, the book will explore the dating lives of women in their 50s and 60s as well as the complexities of marriage, children, divorce and bereavement.

But rather than featuring the exploits of Carrie and the gang, it looks as though Is There Still Sex in the City? will instead honour the spirit of the iconic series. Mentions of the original cast and characters are conspicuously absent from all of the official announcements about the new book and series – so we can’t help but wonder if we’re going to meet a whole new group of women.

Deadline reports that Paramount Television has won the rights to Bushnell’s novel, which it will now develop for the small screen.

“The original Sex and the City book and series served as a groundbreaking touchstone for an entire generation of women, myself included,” said Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount Television.

“We’re thrilled to be able to continue that conversation from the underrepresented point of view of women in their 50s and answer the question with, ‘Yes! There is more sex in the city!”

Bushnell will write the pilot script for the TV adaptation of Is There More Sex in the City?, as well as serving as executive producer. In a statement, she said she was looking forward to showing what life is like for many 50- and 60-something women in 2019.

“It didn’t used to be this way. At one time, 50-something meant the beginning of retirement – working less, spending more time on your hobbies, with your friends, who like you were sliding into a more leisurely lifestyle,” she said.

“In short, retirement age folks weren’t meant to do much of anything but get older and a bit heavier. They weren’t expected to exercise, start new business ventures, move to a different state, have casual sex with strangers, and start all over again.

“But this is exactly what the lives of a lot of 50- and 60-something women look like today and I’m thrilled to be reflecting the rich, complexity of their reality on the page and now on the screen.”

Images: Getty / Rex Features