The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

Twenty years ago, The Devil Wears Prada (2006), based on the 2003 first novel by Lauren Weisberger (which spent six months on the NY Times bestseller list) was a very popular movie, and on several streaming services it still is.  Ten days ago (May 1st), 20th Century Studios (a division of The Walt Disney Company) released the sequel, titled The Devil Wears Prada 2. The release coincided more or less with what Wikipedia describes as “the world’s most prestigious and glamorous event in fashion, where fame, wealth power social influence and spectacle collide and peak simultaneously”: New York’s Met Gala, held on May 4th.  Nice timing. And while the new film’s title is unimaginative, it too appears to be a savvy move commercially. In just its first ten days on the big screen, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has been a huge success - bringing in over $432 million worldwide. That compares to a total box office gross for the original film of $325 million for its entire theatrical run in 2006. 

In a current article (May 7, 2026) in Forbes, Olivia Shalhoup asks the question “But is it marketing or nostalgia doing the heavy lifting?” Her answer? It is BOTH. Among many other facts and observations supporting this conclusion, she points to the May 2026  cover of Vogue - released on April 7th - which depicts Anna Wintour (who in her thirty-seven years as the fearsome editor-in-chief of that magazine, had never appeared on its cover) cozying up with actress Meryl Streep (who stars in both films, as a formidable, quietly autocratic boss of a Vogue-like magazine, who’s clearly modelled on Wintour).  

The Forbes article completely sidesteps the question of quality, of course. And on that, the answers are all over the map. Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomatometer” favorability score for The Devil Wears Prada 2 among professional film critics at a pretty high 78%; the other film review amalgamation site, Metacritic, calculates an average critical score of 62 [“generally favorable”] based on 56 critics’ reviews. What about ordinary moviegoers? Rotten Tomatoes, gives a rating of 86% positive from people who’ve seen the movie. IMDB,  which calculates its user score from ratings submitted by IMDB members, gives it a score of 6.8, i.e. 68% favorable.  

It is hard to assess whether Prada 2 is better or worse than the original film. The Devil Wears Prada is one of those exceptional adaptations where a movie’s qualities outshine the novel on which it is based. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not an adaptation of a book; rather, it was expressly written to be a sequel. Two decades ago, The Devil Wears Prada was a not only a hit but a cultural milestone. Its satire was fresh, its script was sharp, witty and quotable. Although entertaining and apparently popular with audiences, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is above all a copy. It will not be cherished or remembered as groundbreaking or original, because it’s not. But it does have a lot in common with the earlier movie.

The screenplays for both pictures are by Aline Brosh McKenna [whose other works include We Bought A Zoo (2011) and the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-2019)]. Both Prada 1 and Prada 2 were directed by the same guy, David Frankel [Marley and Me (2008)]. And most importantly, both films boast a terrific leading cast – played by the same actors. 

The central character in both pictures is Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) a fresh out of college aspiring journalist who, in The Devil Wears Prada, “settles” for a job as second assistant to the ultra-demanding “Miranda”, who runs Vogue - err, “Runway” magazine – the top selling, most influential fashion magazine in the world. Andy doesn’t give a hoot about “fashion”, but she signs on because, as she is told repeatedly, "hundreds of girls would die to have this job". And because she’s desperate to find any job in publishing. 

In Prada 1, Hathaway is terrific as the smart, ambitious young ingénue, but her character is still overshadowed by Streep’s Miranda, a larger-than-life character who dominates everyone at Runway and pretty much everyone else in the fashion world as well. Just as Runway is clearly a fictional version of Vogue, Miranda is  - as noted above - based on its long-time supreme ruler, Anna Wintour.  Streep’s portrayal of Miranda is screen perfection. She’s the one we love to hate, and she is what makes that first film so memorable and iconic. 

Miranda’s chief assistant is Emily (Emily Blunt). Although pleasing the ultra-demanding  Miranda is nearly impossible, Emily is good at her job and proud of it.  Perhaps a bit too proud. Andy, as she quickly learns, is the latest in a string of failed 2nd assistants, (all of whom Miranda also refers to as ‘Emily’) and she must bear the brunt not only of Miranda’s tyranny, but of Emily’s discouraging, overbearing treatment as well. Eventually, Andy finds a sort-of friend in Runway’s artistic director Nigel (Stanly Tucci), who helps Andy find her footing and succeed despite the seemingly insurmountable (albeit frequently amusing) hurdles.  

So what about The Devil Wears Prada 2?  While Streep was already at the top of her game in 2006, Prada 1 effectively launched the adult careers of Hathaway and Blunt.  All three, along with Tucci are featured again in Prada 2. Despite the passage of time, all three actresses are again excellent in the sequel - in part because the circumstances of each has changed and they are of course twenty years older and, maybe wiser for that. Andy no longer has bangs and is single. Emily is out of Runway, working at Dior and canoodling with a her billionaire boyfriend. Tucci’s role has diminished here in comparison to the first movie; and frankly,  it’s little surprising to find Nigel, still working for Miranda twentyb years on. 

Some of the secondary players from Prada 1 are still in the mix as well: like Tracie Thoms who plays Andy’s longtime friend Lily and Tibor Feldman who plays Ira Ravitz, the CEO of Runway’s parent company, ‘Elias-Clark’. There are also some new cast members in supporting roles, such as Kenneth Branagh as Miranda’s husband, Justin Theroux as Emily Blunt’s billionaire boyfriend, and BJ Novak as Jay Ravitz, Irv’s son (more or less the villain of the piece). One newcomer who stands out in a small-ish role is comedian Caleb Hearon as a beaming Second Assistant to Miranda (the job Andy once had).  Another difference from the first movie, in Prada 2, there are  bunches of celebrity cameos from people like Heidi Klum, Jon Batiste, Naomi Campbell, Ciara – and a special appearance by Lady Gaga.

Happily, a few important characters from Prada 1 are absent from the sequel – most notably Andy’s cute but useless boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) and Christian (Simon Baker), a celebrity writer/journalist hoping to romance Andy.

Both films are a blend of glamour, satire and contradiction. Prada 1 was ostensibly a takedown of the fashion industry generally and the haute couture scene in particular, but was actually a seductive advertisement for the very thing it was mocking: the style, the extravagance.  In fact, the allure of the wealthy and the beautiful, more than the story, is what drew the audience to the movie!  Similarly, Prada 1, while supposedly a critique of the tyrannical boss symbolized by Miranda, she was ultimately the star of the film, an exalted personage that Andy and many moviegoers came to admire and even venerate. 

If anything, Prada 2 is even more glamorous than its predecessor, with all those cameo stars, with the billionaires and their the mega-yachts, their Hamptons estates, and so forth. As in the first movie, Andy’s supposed values are inconsistent with her actions: now supposedly a serious journalist dedicated to writing incisive features on important topics, she returns to the fashion mag Runway, and then spends most of Prada 2 fighting to save the magazine in the face of a new world turned against print media and increasingly toward digital content, online influencers, and the like. Out of a newfound loyalty to Miranda - who, while hardly a saint,  has mellowed a bit and sometimes actually appears human - Andy also schemes to save the boss’s career and influence. The common enemies are the billionaires, oligarchs and crass corporate suits who care not a whit for everything that Runway stands for (whatever that is), except the parts that can be monetized to make them richer.  

To the extent The Devil Wears Prada 2 is trying to be a message film, it is total BS. But it is a fun, entertaining, dazzling bit of BS.  It’s colorful, funny, even warmhearted at times, plus more fast-paced and actiony than Prada 1. As a copy, I’d say it’s not quite as good as the original, but not that different either. It’s a nice, highly enjoyable diversion from the scary and worrisome times we are living through.  

1 hour 55 minutes

Grade: B+

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in wide release exclusively in theaters; streaming dates have not been announced at this time.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) is available for streaming free with a subscription to Disney+, Hulu, or HBO Max; and rentable on AppleTV, Amazon and other platforms.