The first signal thatThe Devil Wears Pradahad slipped from "nice mid‑2000s comedy" into something closer to a secular religion wasn't the sequels or the memes. It was the outfits.
Even now, nearly 20 years on, you can spot the disciples: women in oversized sunglasses and sharp coats joking about 'Gird your loins', office workers quoting Miranda Priestly's cerulean monologue as if it were scripture. Which is why, when news finally broke thatThe Devil Wears Prada 2is not only happening but arriving this year, it felt less like a studio announcement and more like a call to wardrobe.
Anne Hathaway clearly thinks so. She has, in effect, challenged fans to turn opening weekend into a global fashion show.
The sequel toThe Devil Wears Pradalands in cinemas on 1 May 2026 – a date originally earmarked for Marvel'sAvengers: Doomsday, which tells you something about how seriously Disney is taking this particular slice of haute couture nostalgia.
Production quietly started in June 2025, with Disney confirming cameras were rolling and Hathaway later sharing a first‑look image of herself back in Andy Sachs mode on 21 July.
Suddenly, those throwback TikToks and endlessly recycled GIFs of Meryl Streep arching an eyebrow had a future, not just a past.
The core four are all in. Meryl Streep returns as Runway's ice‑cold editor‑in‑chief Miranda Priestly; Anne Hathaway is back as former junior dogsbody Andy; Emily Blunt reprises her role as gloriously put‑upon assistant Emily Charlton; and Stanley Tucci slides once more into the perfectly tailored skin of Nigel, the long‑suffering fashion director. That alone would be enough to sell millions of tickets.
But the sequel is not just a reunion tour. Kenneth Branagh has joined the cast as Miranda's husband – a tantalising prospect, given how sketchily her private life was drawn the first time. Simone Ashley (ofBridgertonfame) is on board, as are Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak and Pauline Chalamet. Rachel Bloom and Patrick Brammall have also been added to the line‑up, while Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman are set to reprise their original roles.
Behind the camera, much of the original creative DNA is intact. Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the first film, is penning the screenplay again. Director David Frankel has been in talks to return, and long‑time producer Wendy Finerman is back shepherding the project. In other words, this is not a cynical straight‑to‑streaming spin‑off; it is the original team trying, very carefully, to recapture lightning in a much more complicated bottle.
Plot‑wise, the focus this time shifts from Andy's wide‑eyed descent into fashion hell to Miranda herself. The sequel will explore the editor's perspective as she confronts the slow, humiliating decline of the print magazine empire she once ruled like a god. It is not hard to imagine the dramatic possibilities: a woman whose power was built on glossy paper and iron‑clad access, now staring down analytics dashboards, TikTok trends and an industry that no longer genuflects when she enters the room.
Source: International Business Times UK
