Christopher Nolan Watched ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ and His Two-Word Verdict Is All of Us Right Now
Few filmmakers command as much reverence in Hollywood as Christopher Nolan, the visionary behind ‘Interstellar’, ‘Dunkirk’, and ‘Oppenheimer’. Known for his exacting taste and preference for grand, intellectually ambitious cinema, Nolan is not exactly the name anyone would picture curled up on a couch for a fashion-world sequel. That is precisely what makes his latest admission so delightfully unexpected.
Arriving nearly twenty years after the 2006 cultural phenomenon, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci in the corridors of Runway Magazine, directed once again by David Frankel from a script by Aline Brosh McKenna. The sequel also brings in a wave of new characters played by Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Pauline Chalamet, and B.J. Novak, among others.
The film had already been making enormous noise before Nolan weighed in. Opening weekend figures showed the sequel dazzling with a $77 million domestic debut and a staggering $233.6 million worldwide, making it the second-biggest global opening for a studio title in 2026. Remarkably, it became the first female-skewing film to lead the opening weekend of summer, a frame historically dominated by Marvel releases.
Then came the Nolan endorsement. During an appearance on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ to promote his upcoming epic ‘The Odyssey’, Nolan was asked whether he had seen Hathaway’s latest film and replied, “I watched it last night. It was fabulous. With Emily Blunt as well. Terrific.” The comment quickly took on a life of its own across social media, with fans delighting in the image of one of cinema’s most serious directors becoming an overnight ‘Prada 2’ convert.
The connection between Nolan and the sequel runs deeper than a casual viewer’s curiosity. Anne Hathaway, who stars as Andy Sachs, is also set to appear in ‘The Odyssey’, where she plays Penelope, Odysseus’ devoted queen. Nolan tuning in to watch his leading lady in action carries an extra layer of meaning, and his enthusiasm only adds to the sense that ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is having a genuine cultural moment.
The sequel has earned generally positive reviews from critics, with the film’s first trailer alone recording 222 million views within its first 24 hours, which 20th Century Studios described as the most-viewed trailer in the studio’s history. The story itself tackles the changing face of journalism and media, with Stanley Tucci noting in an interview with TODAY that “magazines have changed distinctly” and that AI and technology have fundamentally reshaped the industry the original film once glamorized.
Not everyone has been wholly swept away by the sequel’s charms. Some critics have pointed to the film’s social commentary as inconsistent, with one reviewer suggesting ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has “zero idea what it’s about” compared to its sharper predecessor. Still, audience scores and box office results tell a different story, and when Christopher Nolan is calling something fabulous and terrific, it is probably safe to say the fashion world has conquered even its most unexpected corners.
Share your thoughts in the comments, did Nolan’s seal of approval push you to grab a ticket for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’?
