The Devil Wears Prada 2 Just Beat the Original at the Box Office — But Is It Worth the 20-Year Wait?

The Devil Wears Prada 2 Just Beat the Original at the Box Office — But Is It Worth the 20-Year Wait?

Remember 2006? The year Meryl Streep delivered one of the most iconic performances in fashion film history as Miranda Priestly, and Anne Hathaway charmed us as the wide-eyed Andrea Sachs trying to survive at the fictional Runway magazine? Well, two decades later, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has arrived in theaters — and it's already smashed the original's lifetime box office record.

According to Deadline, the sequel has officially surpassed the 2006 original's $326.5 million global gross, proving that the fashion world of Miranda Priestly still has serious pulling power. But behind those impressive numbers, the critical reception tells a more complicated story.

From Runway to Disney+: What Changed in 20 Years

Director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna return for the sequel, and so does the core cast. Streep reprises her legendary role as Miranda Priestly, while Hathaway's Andrea is now an award-winning investigative journalist for a paper called The Vanguard. But in a cruel twist, she's laid off just before an acceptance speech — which conveniently brings her back to Runway, this time as head of the features department.

Meanwhile, Emily Blunt returns as Emily Charlton, now a Dior executive alongside her wealthy boyfriend Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux). Stanley Tucci is back as the beloved Nigel, and B.J. Novak joins as a tech-bro son of Runway's owner Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman). The plot reads like a fashion world version of Succession, with better clothes and significantly less cursing.

The movie also features Ke Huy Quan, adding another star to the ensemble. But here's the thing — while the cast is undeniable, critics are split. Associated Press film writer Jake Coyle called it "a fitfully functional sequel that doesn't fit its cast nearly as snugly as the 2006 original did." It currently sits at a 78% critic score and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

So, Should You Watch It?

If you're here for nostalgia, haute couture, and the sheer charisma of Streep and Tucci — absolutely. The chemistry between the original cast members is still electric, and there are enough callbacks to make fans smile. But if you're hoping for that same crackling newbie-assistant-tyrannical-boss dynamic that made the first film a classic, you might leave wanting more.

The real magic of the original was watching Andrea navigate the high-fashion fire for the first time. Mid-life career changes and corporate power struggles, while dramatically interesting, just don't hit the same way. As the AP review puts it: "All we really want is to see Meryl Streep say cutting things to Anne Hathaway, with a few zingers from a well-tailored Tucci on the side." The sequel delivers some of that — just not enough to eclipse the original's cultural impact.

For those who want to catch it at home, Forbes reports that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is expected to arrive on Disney+ and digital platforms in the coming months. Whether you watch it in theaters or wait for streaming, it's worth seeing at least once — if only to witness Streep prove, once again, that she's still the queen of the screen.