The Devil Wears Prada 2 does not return to Runway for a simple nostalgia lap. The sequel picks up 20 years after the 2006 film and turns Miranda Priestly’s fashion empire into a media-survival story. Therefore, the glossy clothes, celebrity cameos, and icy one-liners now sit beside layoffs, algorithms, private equity logic, and a fight over whether Runway still matters.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 premieres in theaters as Andy Sachs, Miranda Priestly, Emily Charlton, and Nigel Kipling face a very different industry. Andy is no longer Miranda’s terrified assistant. She is now an award-winning journalist who returns to Runway as features editor after a layoff and a scandal leave the magazine desperate for credibility.
That setup gives the sequel a sharper angle than a basic reunion. Runway has become a thinner, more digital operation. Miranda still has authority, but her world is wobbling. Andy wants to protect journalism. Emily wants power. Nigel, meanwhile, remains the elegant connective tissue between ambition and loyalty.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Cast Breakdown
The core returning cast includes Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton, and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling. David Frankel returns as director, while Aline Brosh McKenna returns as screenwriter.
The sequel also adds Kenneth Branagh as Stuart, Miranda’s jazz-musician husband; Justin Theroux as Benji Barnes, a tech-billionaire figure romantically linked to Emily; Lucy Liu as Sasha Barnes, Benji’s wealthy and reclusive ex-wife; B.J. Novak as Jay Ravitz; Tibor Feldman as Irv Ravitz; Helen J. Shen as Andy’s assistant; Patrick Brammall as Peter; Simone Ashley and Caleb Hearon as new Runway assistants; and George C. Wolfe as Paul, a Runway employee.
Several familiar faces from the first film also appear or are referenced. Tracie Thoms returns as Lily. Colleen and Suzanne Dengel, who played Miranda’s twins in the original movie, appear in a quick Hamptons-party shot. Adrian Grenier’s Nate does not return, and Vanity Fair’s spoiler rundown notes that the sequel gives Andy only a passing reference to past bad romance.
How the Ending Rebuilds Runway
The story turns on a power struggle inside Elias-Clarke Publications. After a Shein-esque fast-fashion scandal damages Runway, Irv Ravitz brings Andy back to help restore trust. Then Irv collapses and dies at his birthday celebration, leaving Jay Ravitz in control.
Andy, Nigel, and Emily initially appear to share a common goal: save Runway and protect Miranda’s place at the top. However, the Italy trip for Milan Fashion Week exposes Emily’s hidden play. She has been trying to acquire Runway, remove Miranda, and become editor-in-chief herself.
Miranda survives because of Sasha Barnes. Earlier, Miranda conducts an empathetic interview with Sasha, and that relationship becomes decisive. Sasha ultimately buys Runway out from under Benji, saving Miranda’s position and keeping Andy and Nigel inside the institution.
The final image deliberately echoes Working Girl. The camera looks through a high-rise window toward Andy in her Runway office, then pulls back to show Andy, Miranda, and Nigel working in separate corners of the same space. Meryl Streep called the solution “fantastical,” while David Frankel described the shot as “a salute” to Working Girl in Entertainment Weekly’s spoiler interview.
Anne Hathaway framed the ending as a reversal of Andy’s earlier escape. In the first movie, Andy throws Miranda’s phone into the Fontaine des Fleuves and walks away. This time, Andy chooses the team. That difference matters because the sequel is less interested in escaping fashion than in asking whether damaged institutions can still be worth saving.
Cameos Turn the Sequel Into a Fashion Scavenger Hunt
The cameo list is enormous, and many appearances are intentionally brief. Lady Gaga has the most visible musical presence, sharing lines with Streep and performing an original song. She and Doechii also released “Runway” for the film.
ABC’s cameo roundup identifies Amelia Dimoldenberg, Donatella Versace, Lady Gaga, Oscar-nominated hairstylist Frederic Aspiras, Law Roach, Heidi Klum, Winnie Harlow, Karl-Anthony Towns, Pauline Chalamet, Jon Batiste, Suleika Jaouad, Jenna Bush Hager, Wisdom Kaye, Ciara, Paige DeSorbo, and Hannah Berner among the faces viewers may spot. The film also connects to real fashion media through names such as Tina Brown, Kara Swisher, Marc Jacobs, Ashley Graham, and Ronny Chieng in Vanity Fair’s list.
Several cameo quotes are almost tailor-made for fans. Amelia Dimoldenberg said she “can’t believe” she appears “for even a moment” and added, “I do think it changed my life.” Pauline Chalamet wrote that fans should “blink and you will miss me.” Hannah Berner joked that she and Paige DeSorbo had a “3-second cameo.”
Heidi Klum, who appeared in the 2006 movie with Mr. Valentino, also leaned into the franchise’s history. She said she was “so lucky 20 years ago” and hoped the sequel did not “snip snip” her out. Ciara marked her appearance with Russell Wilson at the New York premiere and wrote, “How sweet it is to be part of Devil Wears Prada 2!”
The Best Easter Eggs: Cerulean, Paris, Bubby’s, and “Hello, Six”
The callbacks are not subtle enough to miss, but they mostly serve character rather than pure fan service. Andy and Lily still spend time at Bubby’s in Tribeca. Andy’s old Paris Fashion Week experience remains emotionally present. Even Stuart’s music at Irv Ravitz’s funeral links back to the original film’s Paris sequence.
Nigel greets Andy with “Hello, six,” reviving the size-based nickname from the first movie. That line lands differently now, especially because the sequel also has to navigate how much the culture has changed around body talk since 2006.
The assistant pool still tells itself that “a million girls would kill for this job.” Meanwhile, Miranda has changed in small but telling ways. She now hangs up her own coat, and her old editorial-room cruelty has to survive in a workplace less tolerant of casual abuse.
One of the sharpest jokes comes after Emily’s failed bid for Runway power. Andy sees Emily’s new hair and asks, “How are things at Coach?” The Cut read the line as a brutal brand downgrade joke: Emily falls from Dior executive to Coach, and the movie lets the audience feel the sting.
Box Office: Runway Opens Big Against Michael
The sequel’s theatrical start looks strong. Variety reported that The Devil Wears Prada 2 earned $32.5 million on opening day and was tracking toward roughly $80 million for the weekend. Deadline’s early update placed Thursday previews above $10 million stateside and worldwide grosses above $50 million.
Deadline later framed the movie as heading toward a $75 million to $80 million U.S. opening, with Reddit’s box-office scrape preserving a fuller update that cited $32.5 million Friday, up to $82.1 million internationally, and $114.6 million worldwide through Friday. The Hollywood Reporter’s search result also pointed to a $75 million to $80 million U.S. launch and a $180 million global trajectory.
The competition matters because Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic, was still in theaters. Deadline’s later update put Michael at $51 million for the frame, down 48%. Variety’s opening-day piece had The Devil Wears Prada 2 ahead of that title as the fashion sequel strutted into first place.
Why The Devil Wears Prada 2 Feels Less Like a Lark
NPR critic John Powers argued that the sequel is not quite as carefree as the original, but still has “more to say.” That tracks with the plot. Andy no longer has to decide whether fashion is morally corrupting. Instead, she has to decide whether a compromised magazine is still better than letting tech moguls and finance operators hollow it out.
The new villain is not simply Miranda. The sequel points at consultants, algorithms, billionaires, conglomerates, and owners who treat publishing like a toy. That makes The Devil Wears Prada 2 feel unusually current for a studio sequel built around beloved characters and designer clothes.
Still, the film does not abandon pleasure. The movie moves from Manhattan high-rises to New England mansions to Milan, where Lady Gaga sings in a museum. It keeps the ravishing outfits, the sumptuous rooms, and the pleasure of watching Streep, Hathaway, Blunt, and Tucci trade controlled verbal blows.
That balance explains why the ending works. Andy does not defeat Miranda. Emily does not become Miranda. Nigel does not simply drift in the background. Instead, all three central Runway survivors remain at work, together and separate, inside a fragile institution that may or may not last.
So The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not just asking whether audiences still love Miranda Priestly. It is asking whether audiences still believe in the world that made Miranda terrifying. The answer, at least in theaters this weekend, appears to be yes.
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