The new 'Devil Wears Prada' movie did so much better at the box office
The new 'Devil Wears Prada' movie did so much better at the box office
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSun, May 3, 2026 at 6:01 PM UTC
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Gird your loins! "The Devil Wears Prada 2" is kicking off the summer movie season in style.
The highly anticipated sequel starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep debuted with a sizable $77 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, according to estimates from Comscore released on May 3. It was an impressive launch, considering the original movie only opened to $27 million in 2006 (unadjusted for inflation) and finished with $124.7 million.
This gave "The Devil Wears Prada 2" the fourth-biggest opening weekend of 2026, behind only "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," "Michael" and "Project Hail Mary." The film opened on the weekend that is traditionally considered the start of the summer blockbuster season. In 2025, Marvel's "Thunderbolts*" opened in that spot and had a similarly sized $74 million debut.
Worldwide, "The Devil Wears Prada 2" took in $233.6 million.
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Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada 2."
Two decades after the original film, Hathaway returns in "The Devil Wears Prada 2" as journalist Andy Sachs, who goes back to work for demanding fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Streep) after losing her newspaper job. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci also reprise their roles in the sequel, which brings in new cast members like Justin Theroux and B.J. Novak and features cameos from stars including Lady Gaga. Gaga, playing herself, also performs a song in the film.
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After years of skepticism that "The Devil Wears Prada 2" could live up to the original movie, not only has the film done so in the eyes of critics, but it became a rare sequel to actually receive better reviews than the original. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds a critical approval rating of 77%, up slightly from 75% for the first "Devil Wears Prada." Moviegoers polled by CinemaScore also gave the sequel an average grade of A-, an improvement on the original's B rating.
Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci in "The Devil Wears Prada 2."
Strong audience reception likely means that "The Devil Wears Prada 2" will continue to perform well in the coming weeks, especially given it won't have much competition in theaters for Mother's Day weekend. The next major release that could eat into its audience is the new "Star Wars" film "The Mandalorian and Grogu," which arrives for Memorial Day.
'Michael' movie is now second-biggest musical biopic ever
Meanwhile, despite being widely panned by critics, "Michael" is still faring well in theaters.
In its second weekend, the controversial Michael Jackson biopic grossed another $54 million at the domestic box office, representing an impressively small drop of 44% from its opening weekend. The movie already set a record for the biggest debut for a musical biopic ever, and it is now the second highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, passing "Elvis" and putting it behind only "Bohemian Rhapsody." The 2018 Freddie Mercury movie still holds the record as the top-grossing musical biopic with $911 million worldwide. As of this weekend, "Michael" has grossed $423.9 million globally.
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The performance almost certainly guarantees that the sequel teased at the end of "Michael" will happen, though the studio has yet to make the official announcement.
After a strong start this weekend, movie theaters look set for a hugely lucrative summer, with franchises like "Toy Story," "Minions," "Moana" and "Spider-Man" set to keep the party going.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'Devil Wears Prada 2' box office opening compared to original
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
