A female-skewing movie led the summer season for the first time in years
In a summer movie season long defined by superhero spectacle, a sequel about fashion, ambition, and the cost of reinvention has arrived to claim the throne. The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened to $233 million worldwide, carried largely by an audience that Hollywood has too often treated as secondary — women, who made up three-quarters of ticket buyers and turned out in numbers that rewrote career records for both Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt. Whether this represents a lasting realignment of the summer box office or a singular convergence of nostalgia and star power remains the season's most interesting open question.
- A $233 million global opening — without a single superhero in sight — has upended the assumed logic of Hollywood's most lucrative 18-week stretch.
- Women drove 76% of ticket sales, a demographic composition so unusual for a summer opener that it is forcing the industry to reckon with what it has been leaving on the table.
- Both Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt shattered their own career records, with Blunt surpassing even Oppenheimer's international launch figures.
- Mixed critical reviews did nothing to slow the audience — three-quarters of viewers said they would actively recommend the film, signaling genuine word-of-mouth momentum.
- The film now sits at the head of a summer box office already running 14% ahead of last year's pace, raising the stakes for every release that follows.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrived this weekend with $233 million in global ticket sales, a figure that carries unusual meaning in a summer season that has spent years belonging almost exclusively to Marvel. The sequel earned $77 million domestically and $156.6 million internationally, knocking a Michael Jackson musical biopic from the top spot and immediately reframing what the summer of 2026 might look like.
The audience told the more striking story. Exit polls showed 76% of ticket buyers were women, and three-quarters of them said they would recommend the film to friends. It is genuinely rare for a female-skewing film to lead the summer season's opening weekend — a corridor that typically accounts for roughly 40% of the year's total domestic box office. For years, that slot has been Marvel's almost by default.
The film also rewrote personal records for its stars. For Meryl Streep, returning as the imperious Miranda Priestly, it is the highest-grossing opening of her career, surpassing Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. For Emily Blunt, joining the cast for the first time, it topped even Oppenheimer's international debut. Anne Hathaway returns as Andy Sachs, now navigating a media world transformed since the original film's 2006 release.
The sequel cost $100 million to produce — nearly three times the original's budget — though director David Frankel noted that after accounting for star salaries, the actual production costs were roughly comparable to the first film. The cast undertook a global promotional tour through Tokyo, London, and New York, and Anna Wintour — the real-world Vogue editor who inspired Streep's character — participated publicly this time, appearing with Hathaway at the Oscars and with Streep on the cover of Vogue.
Critics were divided, but audiences were not. The original film earned over $326 million worldwide and embedded itself in popular culture in ways that still echo. Whether this sequel signals a genuine shift in summer moviegoing appetites, or simply demonstrates what happens when a beloved legacy property meets the right moment, is the question the next 18 weeks will answer.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened to $233 million worldwide this past weekend, a figure that arrives with particular weight in a summer movie season that has spent years being shaped almost entirely by superhero franchises. The sequel earned $77 million domestically and $156.6 million internationally, numbers that sent it straight to the top of the North American box office and displaced Michael, a musical biopic about the pop star that had held the number-one position the week before.
What made the opening genuinely noteworthy was not just the size of the haul but the composition of the audience. Exit polls showed that 76 percent of ticket buyers were women. Three-quarters of those viewers said they would definitely recommend the film to friends. This matters because it is genuinely rare for a female-skewing movie to lead the opening weekend of Hollywood's summer season, that crucial 18-week corridor running through Labor Day that typically accounts for roughly 40 percent of the year's total box office revenue. For years, that opening slot has belonged to Marvel films almost by default.
The film also rewrote records for its stars. For Meryl Streep, who returns as the formidable Miranda Priestly running the fictional Runway magazine, this is the highest opening weekend of her entire career by every measure—surpassing the $90 million worldwide debut of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again in 2018. Emily Blunt, who joins the cast this time around, achieved her biggest international and global launch, topping the $180.4 million worldwide opening of Oppenheimer. Anne Hathaway returns as Andy Sachs, the young woman navigating the demands of working for Priestly in a media landscape that has fundamentally changed since the first film arrived in 2006.
The production itself carried a substantial price tag. The sequel cost $100 million to make, a significant jump from the original's $35 million budget. Director David Frankel acknowledged the apparent contradiction when speaking to the Associated Press, noting that even after paying the salaries of major movie stars, the actual cost of production remained roughly comparable to what they had spent on the first film two decades earlier. The cast—Streep, Hathaway, Blunt, and Stanley Tucci—spent weeks on a global publicity tour that took them through Tokyo, London, and New York. Anna Wintour, the real-world Vogue editor who inspired Streep's character, participated in the promotional push this time, appearing with Hathaway at the Oscars and with Streep on the cover of Vogue itself.
Critics offered mixed reactions to the sequel, though the audience response was unambiguous. The original Devil Wears Prada, which opened in June 2006, earned more than $326 million worldwide and became deeply embedded in popular culture, generating quotable lines that people still repeat—"gird your loins," "groundbreaking," "that's all." This new film arrives at a moment when the summer box office is running about 14 percent ahead of 2025's pace, with roughly $2.8 billion in domestic ticket sales accumulated so far.
Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Comscore, characterized the opening weekend as solid, describing it as an irresistible combination that more than compensated for the absence of a Marvel film launching the season. The Devil Wears Prada 2 outperformed last year's summer kickoff, which was the Marvel film Thunderbolts. What unfolds over the next 18 weeks will reveal whether this opening signals a genuine shift in what audiences want from their summer movies, or whether it represents something more singular—a legacy property with enough cultural weight and star power to transcend the usual patterns.
Citas Notables
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.— Director David Frankel
This is a really solid weekend. It's this irresistible combination that more than makes up for the fact that there's not a Marvel movie to kick off the summer movie season.— Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that a female-led film opened the summer season instead of a Marvel movie?
Because for years, Marvel has owned that slot almost by default. It signals that studios are willing to bet serious money on stories that aren't superhero origin stories, and that audiences—particularly women—will show up in overwhelming numbers for them.
The budget jumped from $35 million to $100 million. Did they get a proportional return?
Not quite. The director said that even with the higher budget, once you pay A-list salaries, the actual production cost is similar to the first film. So the extra money went largely to the people in front of and behind the camera, not necessarily to bigger sets or more ambitious filmmaking.
What does 76 percent female audience actually tell us?
It tells us the film was marketed to and resonated with women in a way most summer blockbusters don't attempt. It's not that women don't go to superhero movies—they do. It's that this film was made for them first, not as an afterthought.
Is this a turning point or an anomaly?
That's the real question. One massive opening doesn't change the entire summer movie ecosystem. But if this film holds well over the next few weeks, and if studios notice, it could nudge the needle. Legacy sequels with strong female leads might start looking less risky to executives.
Why bring Anna Wintour into the publicity?
Because the character Miranda Priestly is based on her. Having Wintour participate blurs the line between fiction and reality in a way that amplifies the film's cultural relevance. It's not just a movie about fashion—it's a conversation between the movie and the real world it depicts.