Twenty years after the original, 20th Century Studios’ female-led The Devil Wears Prada 2 glided back onto the scene in an estimated $77m North American debut that delivered the fourth-highest opening weekend of the year to date.
Buoyed by a returning lead cast of Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci alongside returning director David Frankel and co-writers Aline Brosh McKenna and Lauren Weisberger – a world-class package that will have been essential to the opening weekend – the launch through Disney far outstripped that of the original’s $27.5m debut in June 2026 (even beating the $44.8m inflation-adjusted number) and should have little trouble finishing ahead of that film’s $124.7m final tally
The Devil Wears Prada 2, in which Streep’s fearsome magazine editor Miranda Priestly and her cohorts confront the challenge facing legacy publishing, earned an estimated $32.5m on Friday, $25m on Saturday, and $19.5m on Sunday in 4,150 locations. The budget is reportedly around $100m excluding marketing costs. The worldwide debut came to a stirring $233.6m and Screen will report on territory grosses this week.
The comedy drama book adaptation drew a 76% female crowd according to ComScore’s PostTrak, with the 25-34 age bracket delivering 28% of the audience. The audience that will perhaps have closer emotional attachment to the original – the 35-44, 45-54, and over-55s – accounted for 21%, 15%, and 22%, respectively.
Nielsen reported that anticipation for The Devil Wears Prada 2 saw streaming viewership of the original climb by 428% from March to April. The opening weekend follows The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on $131m, Michael on $97.2m, and Project Hail Mary on $80.5m in the year-to-date’s pantheon of highest Friday-Sunday performances.
Speaking of Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic fell just 44% in its second session through Lionsgate, earning $54m from 3,955 sites in second place for a $183.8m running total. The film will soon surge past $200m, continuing Lionsgate’s strong run that began with The Housemaid in late 2025. Globally, the biopic stands at $423.9m including the $240.1m international haul through Universal.
Universal/Nintendo/Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in third place added $12.1m from 3,419 and surged past the $400m threshold to remain the highest-grossing Hollywood release so far this year on $402.7m after five weekends. Ranking fourth was Amazon MGM Studio’s Project Hail Mary on $8.6m from 3,017 for $318.3m after seven.
Neon’s haunted house horror Hokum starring Severance lead Adam Scott and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy debuted in fifth place on $6.4m from 1,885 sites. This was the first release under Neon’s partnership with Spooky Pictures and its latest through the partnership with Waypoint’s Cweature Features. Neon teased the release through mystery screenings on the major circuits and hosted a creator-led junket.
2025 Cannes Midnight selection and video game adaptation Exit 8 directed by Genki Kawamura has earned $3.7m after four sessions through Neon. The company reported that Steven Soderbergh’s art world caper The Christophers stands at $1.6m after four weekends.
In other top 10 arrivals, Angel Studios opened Andy Serkis’s George Orwell adaptation Animal Farm at number six on $3.4m in 2,600 sites; and Renny Harlin’s Deep Water debuted in eighth place through veteran Bob Yari’s fledgling distributor Magenta Light, grossing $2.2m in 1,675 sites. Arclight launched sales on the action thriller starring Aaron Eckhart in Cannes in 2023.
Rounding out the top 10 was A24’s The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, which stands at $46.9m after five sessions.
Comscore reported that total weekend box office came to an estimated $172.5m, pushing the year-to-date to $2.8bn to track 14% ahead of 2025 by the same stage.
