David Frankel's new movie, which follows *The Devil Wears Prada*, is expected to be a big hit at the box office, even after all these years. It seems ready to kick off the summer movie season. The movie was officially added to tracking on Thursday, with one major research firm predicting it could make up to $66 million during its opening weekend, which is set for May 1-3. That's a great number for a movie that isn't aimed at kids, especially since it's targeting women of all ages. Usually, movies that appeal to fans of superhero stories start the summer season, and those are usually from Marvel.
Tracking for Lionsgate’s highly anticipated Michael Jackson biopic, *Michael*, also remained strong two weeks before its planned debut on April 24.
People with access to the data think it might make close to or even top $60 million during its opening weekend. Universal is handling the movie in international markets.
From 20th Century and Disney, the new *Devil Wears Prada* movie will hit theaters two decades after the original, which starred Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, became a huge hit in June 2006.
It went on to make almost $327 million worldwide, even without adjusting for inflation. Domestically, it earned $124.7 million and ended up in the top 14 movies of that year.
The first film, about an eager young journalist who works for a strict fashion editor, helped launch Anne Hathaway's career and introduced Emily Blunt to American audiences.
Both Blunt and Tucci are returning for the sequel. Frankel recently told Harper's that the characters are now 20 years older and in different places in their lives. He added, "Andy has had a journalism career that mirrors a lot of people's experiences today. It's a movie about a woman in her 40s... about how you make peace with the world as you find it, not the world that you wish existed."
For many years, Hollywood has stretched the actual summer season by starting with a big movie around the beginning of May.
When *Prada* came out, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had already started taking over the first weekend of May.
But the pandemic and labor strikes changed things.
Production delays pushed some Marvel movies, like *Deadpool & Wolverine*, to later dates. For instance, *Thunderbolts* opened instead of *Deadpool & Wolverine* in 2025. Also, *Avengers: Doomsday*, which was originally set for May 1, is now coming out in December.
Disney, which owns both Marvel and 20th Century, felt the *Prada* sequel was the perfect fit for this situation.
In 2023, Universal tried to open the summer season with *The Fall Guy*, starring Blunt and Ryan Gosling.
But the movie struggled, only making just under $30 million.
Disney and 20th Century are counting on *Prada 2* to take advantage of nostalgia while also drawing in younger audiences like Gen Z and Millennials, who are still big moviegoers.
Revisiting her role in *Prada* has made Hathaway realize the impact she's had on these generations.
She is also helping bring back *The Princess Diaries* series.
Hathaway once said, "I feel like I was, like, everybody's babysitter."
She added, "I was a child when I made *The Princess Diaries*. I was still a 22-year-old mess of a human when I made *The Devil Wears Prada*. We've grown up together, and I'm so happy for them and how their lives are unfolding. Like, this crazy thing where people just graduate from high school and they just send me their graduation announcements. People send me their wedding invitations. It's so very sweet."
