The Devil Wears Prada 2 debuted strongly at the box office, earning $233.6 million globally in its opening weekend. The sequel brings back Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, set against a struggling Runway magazine. Filmmakers added a new fashion montage and hired a human artist for a key meme after last-minute decisions.
The Devil Wears Prada 2, released on Friday, grossed $77 million domestically and $156.6 million internationally during its opening weekend, for a global total of $233.6 million. The film reunites stars Meryl Streep as Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly, Anne Hathaway as features editor Andy Sachs, Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton, and Stanley Tucci as creative director Nigel Kipling. Newcomer Simone Ashley joins as Miranda's assistant Amari, with Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman reprising roles from the 2006 original. Director David Frankel helmed the project, with screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna and producer Wendy Finerman returning. Costume designer Molly Rogers oversaw the looks. The story unfolds 20 years later in a media landscape where Runway faces slashed budgets, tech disruptions, and audience apathy. Miranda, once untouchable, now battles vulnerability, including a company-mandated coach flight. Andy, downsized from Vanguard, joins Runway to handle a sweatshop scandal story that draws little traffic. Nigel emerges as a scene-stealer with his droll wisdom. Filmmakers initially omitted a fashion montage to avoid repeating the original's iconic Vogue sequence but added a supersized one in Milan. Frankel told Variety, “We got very deep into the production — we were shooting and on our way to Milan — and I was feeling like there’s such an expectation … I felt like maybe we should try.” Hathaway pushed for it, saying, “There’s just this expectation of more fashion.” They used Madonna’s “Vogue” as the soundtrack after testing it as a placeholder. Artist Alexis Franklin created the film's opening AI-style meme depicting Miranda as a fast-food worker, reading “Would you like some lies with that?” Franklin shared on Instagram, “I got to paint this at the request of [director] David Frankel for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ … it was nothing but fun.” She noted on X the relief from fans that a human artist was hired over AI.