3 minutes to read<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/header>\nTwenty years after the original, the sequel to \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d made a splash in its first weekend in theaters. Driven largely by women, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d earned $77 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $156.6 million internationally, according to studio estimates Sunday. It easily topped the box office and bumped \u201cMichael\u201d to second place, though the musical biopic held well in its second weekend, falling only 44%.<\/p>\n
The Walt Disney Co.\u2019s 20th Century Studios opened \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d in 4,150 locations in North America. Women made up about 76% of the ticket buyers, according to PostTrak exit polls; 74% said they would \u201cdefinitely recommend\u201d the movie to friends. Critics were a bit mixed on the sequel, which finds Anne Hathaway\u2019s Andy Sachs working once more for Meryl Streep\u2019s Miranda Priestly at the fictional \u201cRunway\u201d magazine in a much-depleted media landscape. <\/p>\n
The movie cost a reported $100 million to produce \u2014 a significant boost from the first movie\u2019s $35 million production budget. But as filmmaker David Frankel told The Associated Press recently, \u201cAs it turns out, you know, by the time you finish paying all the biggest movie stars in the world, you still end up with basically the same budget for making the movie as we did the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stars Streep, Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci have been on a fashion-forward global publicity blitz for weeks, with glamorous stops in Tokyo, London and New York. Even Anna Wintour, the inspiration for the Prada-clad devil, has been involved this time, appearing with Hathaway on the Oscars stage and with Streep on the cover of \u201cVogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first movie opened in June 2006 and would go on to earn over $326 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. And perhaps more importantly, it firmly became part of the culture thanks in part to its ever-quotable likes (\u201cgird your loins,\u201d \u201cgroundbreaking,\u201d \u201cthat\u2019s all\u201d). Legacy sequels are never a sure thing, but this time anticipation was high: According to Nielsen, streaming viewership for \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d was up 428% from March 2026 to April 2026. <\/p>\n
Second place went to Lionsgate\u2019s Michael Jackson biopic \u201cMichael,\u201d which made $54 million in its second weekend in North America, where it\u2019s playing on 3,955 screens. Its running worldwide total is already $423.9 million. Universal Pictures is handling the international release. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is on the great end of what we had speculated might happen, but we were very confident that we were going to have a great hold even with the assumption that \u2018Prada\u2019 would do a lot of business,\u201d said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson. \u201cThe conventional wisdom that a new giant movie can knock out a movie that has planted itself is constantly proven inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n
This weekend marks the start of Hollywood\u2019s summer movie season, a crucial 18-week corridor that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for around 40% of the annual box office. There are often Marvel blockbusters programmed as the season\u2019s kickoff, but the combined power of \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d and \u201cMichael\u201d wasn\u2019t a shabby substitute.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really solid weekend,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. \u201cIt\u2019s this irresistible combination that more than makes up for the fact that there\u2019s not a Marvel movie to kick off the summer movie season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrada\u201d alone actually did better business than last year\u2019s summer kickoff Marvel movie, \u201cThunderbolts.\u201d There were several other new films in theaters this weekend as well, including the Adam Scott-led horror movie \u201cHokum,\u201d Andy Serkis\u2019s animated adaptation of \u201cAnimal Farm\u201d and the Aaron Eckhart- and Ben Kingsley-led survival movie \u201cDeep Water.\u201d <\/p>\n
They all opened behind \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie,\u201d which made $12.1 million in its fifth weekend, and \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d which made $8.6 million in its seventh weekend. Neon\u2019s \u201cHokum\u201d led the newcomers with $6.4 million, rounding out the top five, followed by the very poorly reviewed \u201cAnimal Farm\u201d with $3.4 million. \u201cDeep Water\u201d opened to $2.2 million. <\/p>\n
In the top four movies, Dergarabedian has noticed a trend: \u201cOver the past couple of months, moviegoers have really embraced pure, escapist entertainment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The annual box office is currently running about 14% up from last year, with about $2.8 billion in domestic ticket sales to date. <\/p>\n
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:<\/p>\n
1. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2,\u201d $77 million.<\/p>\n
2. \u201cMichael,\u201d $54 million.<\/p>\n
3. \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie,\u201d $12.1 million.<\/p>\n
4. \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d $8.6 million.<\/p>\n
5. \u201cHokum,\u201d $6.4 million.<\/p>\n
6. \u201cAnimal Farm,\u201d $3.4 million.<\/p>\n
7. \u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy,\u201d $2.2 million.<\/p>\n
8. \u201cDeep Water,\u201d $2.2 million.<\/p>\n
9. \u201cThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea,\u201d $1 million.<\/p>\n
10. \u201cThe Drama,\u201d $908,303.<\/p>\n
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