The Devil Wears Prada 2 is finally here — and the fashion world, the film world, and practically anyone who has ever owned a cerulean blue sweater is paying close attention. Twenty years after the original film became a cultural phenomenon, director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna have brought Miranda Priestly, Andy Sachs, Emily Charlton, and Nigel back to the screen. The question everyone is asking: does it live up to the legend?
The short answer is yes — with a few caveats and a tailored hem or two that could have been tightened.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not a carbon copy of its predecessor. It’s darker, more reflective, and far more interested in what it actually means to dedicate your life to an industry that the world has largely moved on from. And that, surprisingly, makes it better in certain ways — even if it trades some of the original’s razor-sharp comedy for something more melancholy and grown-up.
What Is The Devil Wears Prada 2 About?
The story picks up roughly 20 years after the events of the original. Runway magazine is in serious financial trouble. Print media is dying, advertising budgets are shrinking, and the digital age has left Runway looking like a very chic relic of a pre-algorithm era.
Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is still commanding the magazine with her signature icy authority, but even she cannot outrun the economic realities threatening her empire. Enter Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), Miranda’s former second assistant, now a respected journalist who returns to Runway as the new Features Editor. The reunion is every bit as awkward, witty, and occasionally electric as you’d hope.
The third piece of the puzzle is Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), Miranda’s former first assistant who has transformed herself into a powerful senior executive at Dior — a luxury brand that holds the advertising funding Runway desperately needs. This creates a fascinating three-way dynamic of ambition, old grudges, and very expensive outfits.
Is Meryl Streep Still Good as Miranda Priestly?
Good? She’s extraordinary. If there was one concern heading into The Devil Wears Prada 2, it was whether Streep could still inhabit Miranda with the same magnetic intensity she brought two decades ago. The answer is a resounding yes — and then some.
The 2026 version of Miranda is a more complex character than the cold villain of the original. She is still formidable, still devastating with a single glance, and still capable of destroying a career with a whispered ‘That’s all.’ But she’s also shown to be someone who genuinely loves what magazines represent — a dying art form she will fight to the last to preserve.
As one critic from Time magazine noted, it is Miranda and Nigel who truly understand what the world of fashion has lost with the decline of print. Streep captures this fire with preternatural coolness and a new, slightly daring wardrobe — including a tassel-bedecked toreador jacket that says, unmistakably, ‘I know exactly who I am.’
How Does Anne Hathaway Perform as Andy Sachs?
Anne Hathaway slides back into Andy’s sensible shoes (and this time, some decidedly less sensible designer ones) with ease. Her chemistry with Streep is still alive, still sparky, and still capable of generating the best scenes in the film.
Some critics have noted that Andy remains a touch too earnestly wide-eyed — almost too good-hearted to feel entirely believable in the cynical world of modern journalism. That’s a fair point. But Hathaway plays it with enough warmth and wit to make it work, and her character’s moral backbone — she’d rather support her colleagues than protect herself — gives the film its emotional center.
There’s a lovely callback moment mid-film where Andy shows up to Miranda’s office wearing a version of her infamous cerulean blue sweater. Miranda’s reaction is vintage Priestly. The audience’s reaction will probably be a lot of involuntary smiling.
What About Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci?
Both are delights, as expected. Emily Blunt’s Emily Charlton has evolved magnificently. No longer the anxious, diet-obsessed first assistant desperately clinging to Miranda’s approval, she is now a self-possessed corporate powerhouse — and significantly funnier because of it. The dynamic between her and Andy is the film’s most enjoyable relationship: two women who never quite liked each other, forced to work together, discovering something unexpected.
Stanley Tucci’s Nigel is still the heart of Runway — wry, loyal, devastatingly perceptive, and always the best-dressed person in any given room. The script gives him a quieter but moving arc this time, acknowledging what two more decades of serving fashion’s most demanding editor have cost him.
The sequel is noticeably kinder to both characters than the original was. Nigel’s sharpest barbs have been softened, and Emily’s past issues with food and body image are not revisited — a choice that feels both deliberate and responsible.
Who Are the New Characters in The Devil Wears Prada 2?
The sequel introduces a strong new ensemble. Kenneth Branagh and Justin Theroux join as key players in the corporate drama surrounding Runway’s survival, while Lucy Liu adds welcome authority in a pivotal supporting role. Simone Ashley and Pauline Chalamet represent the new generation of Runway’s world.
The film also features an original song, ‘Runway,’ performed by Lady Gaga and Doechii, which accompanies the marketing campaign in a stylish and very audible way. Gaga’s involvement feels organic rather than gimmicky — exactly what you’d want from a film rooted in the intersection of pop culture and high fashion.
Does The Devil Wears Prada 2 Have a Strong Story?
Here is where the film earns its honest mixed-but-positive verdict. The plot is clever in premise — a dying print magazine, an old enemy turned reluctant ally, and a trio of women navigating power, loyalty, and legacy — but it doesn’t always sustain the tension it sets up.
As Variety noted in its review, the film functions more like a tribute act than a true follow-up. It hits the comic and dramatic highs of the original but doesn’t quite reach the same altitude. The screenplay, while sharp in individual scenes, occasionally gets bogged down in plot mechanics at the expense of the character dynamics that made the first film sing.
One genuinely brilliant thematic thread runs through the entire film: the question of what happens when the industry you built your identity around simply stops mattering. It’s a gutsy premise for a sequel aiming to recapture old glories, and it gives the film a melancholy depth the original never needed to have.
How Does the Film Look? Is the Fashion as Good?
This is a point of genuine debate among critics. Costume designer Molly Rogers, stepping in for the legendary Patricia Field, delivers fashions that are arguably smarter and more grounded than the intentionally outrageous looks of the original. The clothes feel like what actual fashion professionals at the pinnacle of the industry would wear in 2026 — which is both its strength and its slight weakness.
The original film used fashion as visual comedy. The clothes were absurd, gorgeous, and occasionally ridiculous by design. Rogers’ work here is more restrained and sophisticated — beautiful, but less memorable. Miranda’s toreador jacket is the exception: it is genuinely iconic.
The cinematography has drawn some criticism for adopting the flattened, slightly greyish visual style that has become common in contemporary studio productions — what some commentators have called the ‘Netflix look.’ For a film set in a world as visually obsessive as high fashion, a bolder visual approach would have felt more appropriate.
What Are Critics Saying About The Devil Wears Prada 2?
The critical consensus is warm, if measured. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 79% approval rating from 120 critics’ reviews, with a Metacritic score of 61 out of 100, indicating ‘generally favorable’ reviews.
Spectrum Culture praised the film’s rotating roster of antagonists, its sharp humor born from character friction rather than one-liners, and its willingness to ask serious questions about fashion and media in the AI age.
Variety called it ‘breezily diverting fan service’ — a sequel made with intelligence and respect for its predecessor, even if repeat viewings seem unlikely. Plugged In described it as ‘good, nostalgic fun’ that’s kinder and more redemptive than the original.
The dissenting voices note that the original was simply very hard to top, and that this sequel, while entertaining, doesn’t quite replace the first film’s sharp wit with anything equally satisfying. That’s a fair criticism — and one the film itself seems almost aware of.
How Is the Box Office Tracking for The Devil Wears Prada 2?
Enormous. The film’s first trailer reportedly recorded 181.5 million views in its first 24 hours — the most-viewed comedy trailer in 15 years according to 20th Century Studios. The full trailer, released on February 1, 2026, generated 222 million views in its first day — the most-viewed trailer in the studio’s history.
Box office projections from Deadline and Variety estimate an opening weekend of USD 73 million to USD 80 million domestically, with some projections going as high as USD 90–100 million. International tracking points to roughly USD 100 million more overseas, putting the global opening weekend somewhere in the USD 175–190 million range.
For context, the original film opened to USD 27.5 million domestically in 2006 and went on to gross USD 326.5 million worldwide. The sequel is expected to surpass that lifetime total in a matter of weeks. This is not just nostalgia — it’s a genuine cultural event.
10 Key Facts About The Devil Wears Prada 2
- The film premiered on April 20, 2026 at Lincoln Center in New York City, with the event live-streamed on Disney+ and Hulu.
- Principal photography took place from June to October 2025 in Manhattan, Milan, and Newark, New Jersey.
- The original 2006 film grossed USD 326.5 million worldwide on a budget of USD 35–41 million.
- Meryl Streep was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the original film.
- The sequel was developed under the working title ‘Cerulean,’ referencing Miranda’s famous cerulean blue speech.
- The full trailer broke 20th Century Studios’ all-time record with 222 million views in 24 hours.
- Lady Gaga and Doechii recorded an original song titled ‘Runway’ exclusively for the film.
- Both Streep and Hathaway were initially hesitant about doing a sequel before development began in July 2024.
- Costume designer Molly Rogers replaced Patricia Field, who dressed the original film with over USD 1 million worth of clothing.
- The sequel introduces Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Simone Ashley, and Pauline Chalamet alongside the returning cast.
Final Verdict: Should You Watch The Devil Wears Prada 2?
Absolutely. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not a perfect film, and anyone expecting to feel exactly what they felt watching the original for the first time will likely be left slightly wistful. Nostalgia is a tricky thing — it raises the bar impossibly high.
But taken on its own terms, this is a genuinely well-made, emotionally intelligent, and consistently entertaining film. Meryl Streep delivers one of the best performances of her recent career. Emily Blunt is funnier and more interesting than she’s ever been as Emily. The themes about the death of print media, the rise of billionaire-owned journalism, and the price of professional obsession feel urgently relevant in 2026.
Most importantly, it treats its characters — and its audience — with real respect. This is a sequel that understands why people loved the original and makes a sincere effort to honor that love, even while taking the story somewhere new and more complex.
Miranda Priestly would probably tell you to go. We’re just saying the same thing, but with considerably more warmth.