Weekend haul lifts The Devil Wears Prada 2 to about $77M U.S. and $233M worldwide

Box office is the story here — and the surprise is who delivered it. The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened this weekend with an estimated $77 million in the U.S. and $233.6 million worldwide, which is a lot bigger than the cautious early forecasts for a 20-year-late sequel built around magazine-world nostalgia. Disney’s 20th Century Studios basically turned a fashion-comedy follow-up into one of the year’s strongest theatrical launches. That matters because the first weekend of May is usually superhero turf, not Miranda Priestly turf. (deadline.com) ### Why is this opening a big deal? Because $233.6 million worldwide is not “solid for the genre” money — it’s event-movie money. Disney says the split was $77 million domestic and $156.6 million international, good for one of the biggest global openings of 2026 and the second-highest Motion Picture Association global debut of the year so far(deadline.com)formance, it was a full-on breakout. (thewaltdisneycompany.com) ### What beat expectations? The domestic number landed above the roughly low-to-mid-$70 million tracking range that had been circulating before release, and well above earlier ideas that this movie might play more like a niche legacy sequel. Deadline says Disney held a $77 million internal view through the weekend while some rivals overshot(thewaltdisneycompany.com)consensus. (deadline.com) ### So who actually showed up? A lot of women, a lot of nostalgia-driven moviegoers, and a lot of people who still care about this cast. Trade coverage keeps circling the same hook — Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci back together after two decades is the sell. Variety also notes that reviews were mixed but audiences(deadline.com)le in on Friday, but decent exits help keep the weekend from collapsing. (variety.com) ### Why does the timing matter? This was the first weekend of the summer box-office season, and that slot usually belongs to giant male-skewing franchise movies. Deadline says no female-skewing movie had ever led this kickoff frame before, which makes the result feel bigger than one sequel doing well. It suggests th(variety.com)ns, and established action brands. (deadline.com) ### Was this just a U.S. story? No — the international number is half the headline. The movie opened at No. 1 in most major markets, with Deadline calling out especially strong play overseas and noting that Italy delivered the No. 4 opening ever for a Hollywood title there. That matters because fashion, celebrity, and the original film’s long(deadline.com)lturally legible across a lot of markets at once. (deadline.com) ### How does it compare with the first movie? Pretty aggressively. Deadline notes that this opening weekend alone equals about 72% of the original 2006 film’s entire reported worldwide run of $326.5 million. That doesn’t mean the sequel is automatically a long-legged smash from here — front-loaded nostalgia movies can still fade — but it does show how much bigger the launch pad is this time. (deadline.com) ### What’s the bottom line? The Devil Wears Prada 2 didn’t just open well. It proved that a female-led, dialogue-driven legacy sequel could own the start of summer and play like a global event. Basically, Disney found a lane that Hollywood keeps underestimating — and this weekend it paid off in couture-sized numbers. (deadline.com)