Twenty years in the making, "The Devil Wears Prada 2" strutted into theaters with a $77 million domestic opening weekend and $156.6 million overseas, combining for a $233.6 million global haul that exceeded expectations and officially kicked off Hollywood's summer movie season.
Women drove the opening. According to PostTrak exit polls, 76% of ticket buyers were female, and 74% said they would "definitely recommend" the film. The strongest demographic on opening day was the 25-to-34 age group, a mix of Gen Z and younger millennials. Friday's take alone hit $32.5 million, including $10 million from Thursday night previews — one of the strongest Thursday showings ever for a female-led film.
The sequel, distributed by 20th Century Studios and Disney, opened in 4,150 North American locations. The global weekend total already surpasses the first film's entire worldwide lifetime gross of $326.5 million, not adjusted for inflation. To underline just how much the original had embedded itself in popular culture: "The Devil Wears Prada" saw a 428% jump in streaming viewership between March and April 2026, according to Nielsen, as audiences rewatched it ahead of the sequel.
The movie cost a reported $100 million to produce, compared to the original's $35 million budget. Director David Frankel returned alongside writer Aline Brosh McKenna. Stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci reunited for a fashion-forward global press tour with stops in Tokyo, London, and New York. Even Anna Wintour, the real-life inspiration for Miranda Priestly, appeared alongside Hathaway at the Oscars and with Streep on the cover of Vogue. Frankel told the Associated Press that after paying the cast, the actual filmmaking budget ended up roughly equivalent to the first movie's.
The sequel finds Anne Hathaway's Andy Sachs working once again for Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly at the fictional Runway magazine, this time set against a crumbling media industry. Writing in Variety, critic Owen Gleiberman described the film as "almost a drama zhuzhed with jokes rather than a comedy with a bittersweet undertone," arguing the tonal shift was earned by the changed circumstances of the characters.
Hathaway spoke openly about how much had changed for her since the original. "When we made the first one, I was just a 22-year-old mess," she told People. "I just feel like my life is in a much more complete and whole place." Streep said rediscovering Miranda Priestly was "kind of easy," adding, "I think you keep these characters." Blunt was more colorful: "I had a lot of fun slithering back into her shoes."
All three told People they are open to a third installment, but only under the right conditions. The script has to work. Everyone has to agree. And Blunt made clear the fourth member of the equation is non-negotiable: "It's got to be the core four," she said, referring to herself, Streep, Hathaway, and Tucci.
The film bumped Lionsgate's Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" to second place, though the music film held strongly in its second weekend, dropping only 44% and pushing its worldwide cumulative total past $423.9 million. The Hollywood Reporter noted that "Michael" has already ranked among the top music biopics of all time by global gross, not adjusted for inflation, though it still trails Fox's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
The opening weekend marks the start of an 18-week summer corridor that Hollywood typically counts on for around 40% of annual box office revenue.
