Box Office Haute Couture: ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ Officially Kicks Off Summer With Heavenly $77M in U.S., $234M Globally

Talk about making a stylish entrance at work — and then some.

The Devil Wears Prada 2, produced by 20th Century and Disney, kicked off the summer box office with a strong start, earning $77 million in North America and $156.6 million overseas.

 That total of $233.6 million exceeded expectations and set a great opening.

The sequel highlights the strong buying power of women and teenage girls at the box office, a fact that Hollywood often forgets.

 On Friday, the movie brought in $32.5 million, including $10 million from Thursday previews, which is one of the best ever for a movie aimed at women.

By Sunday, it had become the biggest opening ever in the U.S., internationally, and globally for Meryl Streep's long and successful career.

 For Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, it was a record for both international and global audiences.

The movie is drawing moviegoers of all ages who are curious to see where the memorable characters from the first film — Streep, Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Blunt — have been over the past 20 years.

 Another positive for the film is that David Frankel, the director of the first movie, is back, as is Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the original script.

The original film has remained a cultural classic across generations, and it's been viewed more than one billion times on streaming and other platforms.

 The sequel has already earned 72 percent of the first film's total box office, which was $326.5 million, without adjusting for inflation.

According to PostTrak exit polls, the most enthusiastic audience on opening day were people aged 25 to 34, including Gen Zers and young Millennials.

 But by Sunday, 66 percent of the weekend audience was 35 or older on average.

Prada 2 is also a big hit at the foreign box office, where it earned the second-highest opening for a 2026 Hollywood film and the second-largest global opening of the year.

 The film topped the box office in major markets like France, Spain, and Japan.

Many of the top films of the weekend hit milestones that are significant for their careers.

Lionsgate and producer Graham King's Michael Jackson biopic, which is still in second place, crossed $400 million globally and is now one of the top music biopics ever, not adjusted for inflation.

 But it still has a way to go before catching up with Fox's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, has made $183.8 million in the U.S. and $240.1 million abroad.

 Universal handles the international release on behalf of Lionsgate, since the company doesn’t have its own foreign distribution network.

And what about a slow but steady rise?

 MGM's sci-fi hit Project Hail Mary, which opened in March, crossed the $600 million mark globally over the weekend, which is a huge win for star and producer Ryan Gosling. This success validates Amazon's decision to build up its foreign operations to handle its own films, including the next Bond movie.

Elsewhere, the horror movie Hokum, starring Adam Scott, opened in sixth place with a solid $6.4 million.

Tracker’ Gets Huge California Tax Credit to Relocate Filming to Los Angeles

 

CBS Tracker will be looking for missing people in a new locale in the 2026-27 season.

The series, one of the most watched on TV, will relocate production to Los Angeles for its fourth season.

 The show, produced by Disne's 20th Television, filmed in Vancouver for its first three seasons.

The move was helped by a record $48 million tax credit from the California Film Commission.

 The credit was awarded in March, though Tracker wasn't identified as the recipient at that time — it’s listed as “Untitled Disney Entertainment Television Project 13” on the commission’s website. (20th TV is part of Disney Entertainment Television.)

The $48 million credit is the largest one the state commission has ever given to a relocating series.

 It previously awarded $42 million to Prime Video’s Fallout to move production to L.A. from New York for its third season.

The tax credit is based on $129 million in qualified spending for the series.

 The film commission’s tax credit list says Tracker is set for 176 filming days in California, employing 250 crew members and 275 actors (including guest stars). Production on season four is slated to begin in the summer.

Tracker is based on Jeffrey Deaver’s novel The Never Game.

 It stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a survivalist and — as the title states — skilled tracker who travels the country helping people and law enforcement agencies find missing persons in exchange for reward money. Fiona Rene and Chris Lee also star, with each episode also featuring several guest roles as Shaw takes on a new case.

Elwood Reid is the showrunner and executive produces with Hartley, Ken Olin, Connie Dolphin, Sharon Lee Watson and Alex Katsnelson.

 Deaver is a producer.

Eva Longoria and ‘House of the Spirits’ Showrunners on the Magic and the Realism That Brought Isabel Allende’s Beloved Novel to Amazon

Francisca Alegría and Fernanda Urrejola, Chilean creators, combined elements of magic and realism in bringing Isabel Allende’s popular novel, *The House of the Spirits*, to life as a limited series on Amazon Prime Video. Alongside executive producer Eva Longoria, they shared the story behind the eight-episode series during a keynote speech at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ Diverse Women in Media Forum on May 1. Variety praised the Spanish-language version, calling it “sensational and long overdue.” The series premiered on April 29.

Despite not having extensive experience with large-scale period dramas, Alegría and Urrejola were able to succeed thanks to the trust and support from FilmNation and Longoria’s Hyphenate Media.

 Alegría emphasized how having producers who believe in you and protect you allows you to focus on creating the best work.

As partners in both life and work, Alegría and Urrejola co-wrote the series and serve as showrunners and executive producers.

 Alegría directed half of the episodes, while Urrejola portrays the central character, Blanca. Longoria was brought on as an executive producer by FilmNation because she had shown interest in adapting Allende’s stories. The Chilean author and human rights advocate became internationally famous with her 1982 debut novel, *The House of the Spirits*, which is known for its blend of magical realism and is a classic of Latin American literature in the 20th century.

Alegría and Urrejola, along with *House of the Spirits* executive producer Eva Longoria, talked about the story behind the eight-episode series during their keynote speech on May 1 at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers' Diverse Women in Media Forum. *Variety* gave *House of the Spirits* a great review, calling it "sensational and long overdue." The show premiered on April 29.

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Although Alegría and Urrejola didn't have a lot of experience with big historical projects, the support from FilmNation and Longoria's Hyphenate Media helped them a lot.

Alegría said it's important to have producers who believe in you and help you focus on doing your best work.

Alegría and Urrejola, who are partners in life and in producing, wrote the series and are the showrunners and executive producers.

 Alegría directed half of the eight episodes; Urrejola plays the main character, Blanca. Longoria was brought in as an executive producer by FilmNation because she had been talking about adapting Allende's work in the development community. Isabel Allende, a Chilean novelist and human rights advocate, became famous after her 1982 debut with *House of the Spirits*, a powerful story about a family and political dynasty, written in the magical realism style common in Latin America in the 20th century.

Longoria said she has always been fascinated by Isabel Allende and her book *House of Spirits*.

 She admired Allende as a woman and a Latina. Longoria said she started writing at the age of 40.

Longoria explained how she helped Alegría and Urrejola.

"I was brought on to add my voice and my influence in this town, to make sure it landed in the right place, that it got the support and the budget it needed," she said.

Urrejola, a well-known Chilean actor, told the crowd at the W Hollywood hotel that the working environment on the project, which was shot in Santiago and other parts of Chile, was similar to the novel's dynamic.

"What is beautiful about this novel is that the female characters are so powerful because they are women.

 They don't try to be like men to be powerful," Urrejola said. "That's the power of women. We create community. We really create culture in that sense, and we shouldn't forget that. And we're so lucky that we have our female producers along the way with us, helping us to put our vision forward. But again, the novel talks about that and our point of view. The entry point was the healing process of generational trauma. It's the granddaughter who is able to articulate what the previous generations couldn't."

Alegría said the pair's experienced producing partners helped them with the unfamiliar tasks of preparing for the final cut and getting ready for the marketing, press, distribution conversations with Amazon as well as FilmNation.

 This was a new experience for the showrunners.

"As independent filmmakers, working with such a big platform comes with knowing how to navigate.

 You need to defend some things, and there are other things that you take the point of view of the platform," Alegría said.

Longoria emphasized this as an important point for the young producers in the room.

"You've got to pick the hill you're going to die on.

 I see so many young writers that I try to develop with, and they just dig their heels in on the wrong thing. Studios are not your enemies. Producers are not your enemies. You all want to make something, and you got to defend your vision, and know what you need to defend and know what you need to let go. And that is a talent in and of itself," Longoria said. "The platforms have information you don't. So use that information producers have."

The session, moderated by Cynthia Littleton, Variety co-Editor in Chief, ended with a discussion about the growing film and TV production infrastructure in Chile.

 (Longoria called it "Chile-wood.")

Bringing a national treasure like *House of the Spirits* to life in Chile was a dream come true for the pair, Urrejola said.

"I'm lucky enough to have worked in different parts of Latin America, and I can say that Chile has so, so much talent," she said.

 "And the landscapes — you can find everything you want in Chile. You can see white, standard, beautiful beaches — very cold, though. And then it will look like the Caribbean. And then you can go to the Patagonia, which is a completely different, unique landscape, and the desert we have. We're still fighting for the [production tax] rebate so we can make it even better, but we have co-production funds, and it's getting better. It was a thrill to work in Chile and to have that amazing crew with us."

Diego Luna Boards Disney’s Live-Action ‘Tangled’

Diego Luna is joining Disney's live-action version of "Tangled." He will play a new character created specifically for the movie, which is set to start filming in Spain this June. This project is based on Disney's 2010 Academy Award-nominated animated film and is another collaboration between Luna and Disney, following his work on "Andor."

Details about his character have not been shared yet.

 As previously announced, Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim will play Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, the thief who helps her escape the tower. Kathryn Hahn will be casting as the villain, Mother Gothel.

Michael Gracey, who directed "The Greatest Showman" and "Better Man," is set to direct this movie.

The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Struts to $32.5 Million on Opening Day

Don't be silly, Andrea. Everyone wants this. Everyone wants to be us."  

That's probably how people are feeling at 20th Century Studios this weekend, since "The Devil Wears Prada 2" had the top spot on Friday with $32.5 million from 4,150 theaters in North America.

 The fashion-focused sequel is aiming for between $75 million and $80 million by Sunday, but some predictions say it could even make around $90 million during its opening weekend. The first "Devil Wears Prada" came out in June 2006. It made $27.5 million in its first weekend and $125 million overall in the U.S. ($45 million and $204 million when adjusted for inflation).

Original director David Frankel and writer Aline Brosh McKenna are back for "The Devil Wears Prada 2," along with the original stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci.

 The sequel follows Hathaway's Andy Sachs, now a big name in fashion journalism, as she reconnects with Streep's powerful editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly at Runway magazine.

Last weekend's top movie, "Michael," dropped to second place with $14.4 million in the U.S. on its second Friday.

 By Sunday, Lionsgate's musical biopic about Michael Jackson is expected to make $51 million, which is about a 48% drop from last week. The total in the U.S. should reach $180 million over the weekend.

If "Michael" keeps doing well, it might overtake 2018's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the highest-grossing musical biopic ever, which made $910 million in total.

 Even if it doesn't reach that, "Michael" has a better chance than "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" of being the highest-grossing film from Lionsgate, which made $865 million.

Along with "The Devil Wears Prada 2," Angel Studios' animated version of "Animal Farm" also opened on Friday.

 It came in sixth with about $1.1 million in the U.S. from 1,130 theaters. Andy Serkis directed and starred in this family-friendly retelling of George Orwell's 1945 novel. The cast also includes Jim Parsons, Iman Vellani, Seth Rogen, Woody Harrelson, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, and Kieran Culkin.

"The Super Mario Galaxy" movie took third place with $2.7 million in the U.S. on Friday, and it's expected to add $12 million by Sunday.

 That would bring its total U.S. earnings to $402 million over five weekends.

Neon's new film "Hokum" came in fourth with an estimated $2.6 million in the U.S. It's aiming for about $6 million by Sunday.

 Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, the horror film follows a writer who goes to an Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, not knowing the place is haunted by an ancient evil. Adam Scott leads the cast, which also includes Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, and Mallory Adams.

Finally, "Project Hail Mary" placed fifth, making $2.2 million.

 Its U.S. total should reach $318 million by Sunday after adding $8.9 million during the weekend.

The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Struts With Trend-Setting $10M in Previews

The Devil Wears Prada is already making a big splash at the box office, just like it did almost 20 years ago when it became a surprise hit and made over $326.5 million worldwide. It's also become a big part of pop culture.

The new movie, The Devil Wears Prada 2, made $10 million in previews on Thursday, which is one of the best numbers ever for a movie led by women.

 That’s not far behind some of the biggest movies right now, like Michael and Project Hail Mary.

In August 2023, another movie led by women, It Ends With Us, made $7 million in previews and went on to make over $350 million globally.

 Its opening weekend was $50 million.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is the first movie led by women in modern times to start the summer box office season.

 Usually, that honor goes to a Marvel superhero movie or a Fast & Furious film.

The movie is pulling in audiences of all ages who are excited to see the original cast come back.

 Meryl Streep plays a powerful fashion magazine editor, Anne Hathaway is back as the popular character, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt also return. The movie is also directed by David Frankel, who worked with writer Aline Brosh McKenna.

In other countries, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has already made $40.5 million in its first two days from 42 markets, including sneak previews.

 It had the highest opening day of the year in Brazil, Italy, Korea, Australia, as well as Belgium, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Greece, Ukraine, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

If you're expecting a movie with strong fashion, sharp humor, and a big performance from Meryl Streep as the powerful Miranda Priestly character, you’re probably going to be satisfied.

Oscars Rule Changes Ban AI Actors and Overhaul International Submission Process

The Oscars' Best International Feature Film category is now open to more than one film from the same country, actors can now get multiple nominations in the same category, and Tilly Norwood won't be getting any Academy Awards soon. These are some of the main changes for the 99th Academy Awards, which were announced this week.

When it comes to AI, the new rules say that only roles that are clearly performed by humans with their permission are allowed, and screenplays must be written by real people.

 The Academy also said they might ask for more details if needed to confirm the use of human work.

This is the strongest statement yet from the Academy about not allowing AI to be part of the awards process.

Another change in the acting categories is that actors can now be nominated for more than one role in the same year.

 Before, if an actor received enough votes for two nominations, they would only get one for the film with the most votes. Now, it's more like other Oscar categories, where a person can be nominated more than once.

It's not very common for an actor to have two chances in the same year.

 Only a few actors, like Scarlett Johansson in 2019, have been nominated for two different roles in the same year. Usually, one is for a lead role and the other for supporting. Barry Fitzgerald was a special case, as he was nominated for both lead and supporting roles in "Going My Way," but that rule was changed later.

The biggest change is in the Best International Feature Film category.

 Since the 1950s, each country could only submit one film. This led to some good films not being considered because they weren't chosen as official submissions. Now, there are two ways a film can qualify: either through a country submission or by winning the top prize at one of six major film festivals. These are the Berlin International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival, or Venice International Film Festival.

If this rule had been in place in recent years, some films that didn't get country submissions would have qualified.

 These include Cannes Palme d'Or winners like "Anatomy of a Fall" and "Titane," along with "The Room Next Door" and "Happening" from Venice, "Yellow Letters" and "Dreams (Sex Love)" from Berlin, "Gloaming in Luomo" from Busan, "To the Victory" and "They Will Be Dust" from Toronto, and "Shame and Money" and "Cactus Pears" from Sundance.

This rule is expected to increase the number of films in the category by four or five each year.

 Cannes might not have the biggest effect because its winners are often already submitted for the Oscars by their home countries. This change also helps films that involve input from multiple countries qualify without having to prove one country was the main contributor.

The international award will now be given to the film itself instead of the country of origin.

 For the last few years, the director's name has been on the Oscar statue, and the director accepts the award on behalf of the entire team.

Other changes include increasing the number of possible statuettes in the casting category from two to three and expanding the cinematography shortlist to 20 films.

The changes to campaign rules were not as big, adjusting the number of possible moderators and the restrictions for Board of Governors members and the Academy president.

According to the Academy's press release, these are the most significant changes.

In the Acting category, actors can be nominated for more than one performance if those performances rank in the top five, similar to how other award categories work.

Only roles that are officially listed in the film's billing and performed by real people with their permission can be considered for this category.

In the Casting category, the number of awards given out will now go from a maximum of two to three.

For the Cinematography category, the first round of voting will now choose 20 films instead of between 10 and 20.

In the International Feature Film category, there are now two ways to enter a film.

 One is through a country or region submitting it as an official entry. The other is if the film wins a qualifying award at an international film festival. The qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars include the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – Best Film), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d'Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award), and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).

Also, the film itself will be listed as the nominee, not the country or region, and the director will accept the award on behalf of the creative team.

 The director's name will appear on the statuette next to the film title and, if applicable, the country or region.

In the Makeup and Hairstyling category, members must attend at least one of the two final meetings to be able to vote in the first round.

For the Original Song category, the rules make it clearer how songs are judged if they appear in the credits.

 If the song comes in first after the credits start, the video must show the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits.

In the Visual Effects category, all Academy members must watch the three-minute Before and After reels from the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.

In the Writing categories, the rules say that only human-written screenplays are eligible.

For Governors Awards, each year must include at least three different types of work.

Regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy can ask for more information about how it was used and whether humans were involved.

Here are the key dates:  

August 13, 2026: First deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories  

September 17, 2026: First deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form  

September 30, 2026: Deadline for International Feature Film  

October 8, 2026: Final deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film, and Live Action Short Film categories  

October 14, 2026: Deadline for Music (Original Song)  

October 15, 2026: Final deadline for Documentary Feature Film  

November 4, 2026: Deadline for Music (Original Score)  

November 12, 2026: Final deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture, and the Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form  

January 8–10, 2027: Voting events for Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, and Visual Effects  

"Hamnet," "Sinners," and "Weapons" (Credit: Focus Features/Warner Bros.)  

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