Talk about making a fashionable entrance in the office — and then some.
The Devil Wears Prada 2, from 20th Century and Disney, officially kicked off the summer box office in fine fashion, opening to a strong $77 million in North America and $156.6 million overseas to strut well past expectations with a global haul of $233.6 million.
The sequel is a vital reminder of the buying power of women and teenage girls at the box office, a fact Hollywood execs are quick to forget. Friday’s haul of $32.5 million included $10 million in Thursday previews alone, one of the best showings ever for a female-fueled pic, and not far behind current box office hits Michael and Project Hail Mary.
Prada 2 is attracting moviegoers across all age groups who are eager to see original cast members Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt reunite and see where they are 20 years later. Another boon for the project: David Frankel returned to direct, as did writer Aline Brosh McKenna. According to PosTrak exit polls, the strongest quad on opening day was those ages 25-34, a mix of Gen Zers and younger Millennials.
And thanks to the first film becoming a cultural touchstone that was passed down and embraced by younger generations, The Devil Wears Prada was never forgotten (as an example, the opening-day gross domestically outpaced the entire opening weekend of the first film — $27.5 million — not adjusted for inflation).
Prada 2 is an even bigger player overseas, where it is scoring the top opening of 2026 for a Hollywood title.
For many in the top chart, it was truly the weekend of milestones.
Lionsgate and producer Graham King’s Michael Jackson biopic, staying in second place, jumped to $400 million globally to rank as one of the top music biopics of all time, not adjusted for inflation, but it has ways to go before catching up with Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Michael has earned $183.8 million domestically and $240.1 million at the foreign box office. (Universal is handling the film internationally on behalf of Lionsgate, since the latter doesn’t have a foreign network.)
Talk about a slow and steady burn. Opening in March, MGM Studios’ sleeper sci-fi hit Project Hail Mary crossed the $600 mark globally over the weekend in an enormous victory for star/producer Ryan Gosling. It validates Amazon’s decision to build out a foreign operation so that it can handle its own movies, such as Bond.
Elsewhere, the Adam Scott-starring horror pic Hokum opened in sixth place with a respectable $6.4 million.
May 3, 7:45 a.m.: Updated.
This story was originally published May 2 at 9:47 a.m.
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