Audiences Are Obsessed With Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, and the Numbers Prove It

‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has officially arrived in theaters, and audiences are making their feelings loudly known. With a Popcornmeter score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, fans are calling the sequel a comforting throwback that delivers the right amount of nostalgia while remaining deeply relevant two decades later. The verdict from moviegoers is clear, and Rotten Tomatoes took to social media to confirm that Miranda Priestly is as delightfully mean as ever.

Twenty years after their iconic turns as Miranda, Andy, Emily, and Nigel, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the offices of Runway Magazine in the eagerly awaited sequel from 20th Century Studios. The story picks up with Andy now working as a features editor at Runway, drawn back into Miranda’s orbit as the team scrambles to save the struggling print publication in a rapidly changing media world.

The sequel is actually besting its predecessor with audiences, as the original 2006 film earned a 76% audience score compared to the new film’s stronger showing, a notable 12-point jump that signals genuine enthusiasm rather than simple nostalgia. Critics have also warmed to the film, and the picture earned an “A-” CinemaScore alongside a 4.5 out of 5 on PostTrak, metrics that position it well for strong legs through the rest of May and beyond.

The box office results are equally impressive. Where the original opened to $27.5 million in the summer of 2006, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ made nearly three times that amount with a $77 million domestic debut, landing it among one of the best openings ever for a female-centric film.

International audiences piled in as well, with $156.6 million from 51 territories giving the film a massive $233.6 million global opening weekend, with Italy leading overseas markets at $16.6 million.

The enthusiasm is rooted in more than pure franchise loyalty. When the principal cast sat down with Jenna Bush Hager for TODAY ahead of the release, Hathaway explained why the script finally felt worthy, saying writer Aline Brosh McKenna “found something new and more to say with these characters” beyond simply giving fans what they want. That instinct appears to have paid off handsomely.

Critics noted that the film “succeeds where many legacy sequels stumble” by finding a genuine reason to exist beyond nostalgia, with the screenplay tackling the eroding state of print journalism and the encroachment of AI on creative industries.

Audience reviews have been almost uniformly affectionate. One viewer described the experience as “like a warm hug,” while another praised it as a “wonderfully mature sequel that deserves its place on the pedestal,” with several reviewers already hoping for a third installment.

The film’s emotional core seems to be resonating as much as its fashion-forward surface, which is exactly what the returning creative team was aiming for. Director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna both return from the original, joined by new cast members including Simone Ashley, Kenneth Branagh, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, and Patrick Brammall.

For Streep in particular, the reaction feels like a full-circle triumph. Her icy, imperious Miranda Priestly remains one of cinema’s most quoted and imitated characters, and audiences in 2026 appear just as captivated by her withering glances and clipped dismissals as they were two decades ago.

Whether the film ultimately sparks a third chapter remains to be seen, but for now, ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has proven that that’s all anyone needed to hear. Let us know in the comments whether you think Miranda Priestly deserves another sequel.