Gird your loins: Long-awaited Devil Wears Prada sequel brings multimillion-dollar brands bonanza

Australia’s cinemas are gearing up to dance with the devil and welcome back a huge female audience after an era dominated by blokey superhero and action films.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theatres at the end of the month, two decades after Meryl Streep starred as intimidating magazine editor Miranda Priestly and delivered that iconic cerulean blue sweater speech. And already, the sequel has triggered a massive marketing buzz and hype on social media.

It is proving to be a bonanza for brands like beauty behemoths Mecca and L’Oreal Paris, soft drinks giant Coca-Cola, haircare label TRESemmé and coffee giant Starbucks.

Meanwhile, Hollywood is banking on the sequel to be a huge hit given the massive investment that has gone in to making it.

The Devil Wears Prada 2’s trailer amassed 222 million views within 24 hours of its release in early February, making it the most-viewed 20th Century Studios trailer of all time.

According to experts, the message was clear: the world was ready for the return of Miranda, Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway), Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) and Nigel (Stanley Tucci).

“For a sequel to a 20-year-old drama with no superheroes, 222 million is a serious number for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and goes to show the cultural power and audience pull behind it,” retail and consumer expert Trent Rigby said, comparing it with the Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie — which shattered records with a near-720 million views.

Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger, the original The Devil Wears Prada debuted in 2006 and followed the story of Andy, a recent college graduate who lands a job at Runway, the fashion magazine Miranda leads.

A major success, the film made more than $US326 million ($454.8m) at the box office against a production budget of about $US35m.

As Streep told The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this month, the original was categorised as a “chick flick” and barely given a budget.

“That designation has kind of not worn well after Barbie and Mamma Mia and other films that completely catch the studios by surprise that people want to see them because they have women in the centre of the story,” Streep said at the time.

“We had to scrabble for our budget. I’ve talked to Greta (Gerwig) about it, that was true with Barbie a little bit, in comparison to what they spend on other films.

“This one honey, they spent the money.”

The Devil Wears Prada 2 has a rumoured production budget of about $US150m.

Current forecasts put the sequel’s opening weekend between $US85m and $US100m in the US and Canada, which Mr Rigby said would make it the second-highest opener of 2026 so far — behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($US130m) but ahead of Project Hail Mary ($US80m).

“Once you factor in marketing, which is typically double or more the production cost, the film needs to perform strongly just to break even,” Mr Rigby, a director at Retail Customer Advisory, said.

“I think Hollywood is banking on (the movie’s) huge success and the scale of investment from Disney shows this.”

Lisa Hackett, a cultural historian at the University of New England in NSW, reckons the sequel will continue the trend set by the 2023 satirical fantasy comedy film, Barbie, in bringing more women back into the cinema.

“We’ve had an era where there was a lot of Marvel superhero-type films, a lot of action films,” Dr Hackett said.

“The Barbie movie really showed that you can bring women to the cinema, you can make going out to the cinema an event again.

“If you go back 100 years ago, that’s who used to go to the cinema, the women. That was their social night out because you didn’t go drinking as much as men did.”

Mr Rigby doesn’t expect The Devil Wears Prada 2 to beat the Barbie movie, which opened at $US162m, but says the sequel will still do “relatively well” given its second weekend will fall over Mother’s Day.

He says this is significant for the sequel’s key demographic of women aged 35 and older.

Much of the fanfare leading up to the sequel’s release stemmed from exclusive cinema collectables like a handbag-shaped popcorn bucket and graphic tees.

Some of the nation’s biggest cinema chains, as well as independent players, are hoping to capitalise on the movie’s upcoming release by offering special preview screenings, themed food packages and merchandise.

“I suspect The Devil Wears Prada 2 audience is among the more resilient segments,” Mr Rigby said.

“They’re booking the recliner, wine and dinner and food — this can easily become a $100+ night out.”

Daniel McCabe, Event Cinemas general manager of cinema operations in Australia, said there had been strong pre-sales for the film, in-line with Barbie.

“Almost half of these pre-sales are in gold class (which includes lounge access, in-seat service and reclining seats), with four to five tickets purchased for a premium format, showing people want to watch this film in a more luxurious way,” he said.

At Event’s 67 cinemas nationally — including Bondi Junction in NSW — it is offering a “chicks at the flicks” advanced screening package on April 29, which costs up to $95 and includes a gold class ticket and a goodie bag.

A Hoyts spokeswoman declined to detail ticket sale numbers, but said there was an “incredibly strong response” to the movie, with audiences securing tickets across the country ahead of its release on April 30.

“In response to this demand, Hoyts is continuing to add sessions to ensure as many guests as possible can experience the film on the big screen,” she said.

Hoyts is offering advanced screenings of the sequel on April 29, including 80 sessions at its 12 locations in Victoria.

Also on April 29, Village Cinemas’ Crown Melbourne location will have nine screenings from 6pm to 9pm, including six gold class screenings that are already sold out. At the Doncaster location, four of its five advanced screenings are sold out.

Then there’s brand partnerships too. Beauty behemoth Mecca has collaborated with The Walt Disney Company in Australia and NZ to launch a limited-edition lip duo, dubbed Runway Red.

Meanwhile, Kendall Jenner featured in a L’Oreal Paris commercial, which centres on an unexpected mix-up where the American model was mistaken for a new assistant at Runway.

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has also reimagined its Diet Coke cans with The Devil Wears Prada 2’s logo. Starbucks had Adrian Grenier, who played Andy’s boyfriend Nate in the original movie, appear in an ad, jokingly referencing his exclusion from the sequel.

Earlier this month, fashion magazine Vogue revealed Streep and Anna Wintour, the real-life inspiration behind Miranda, on its May issue, which Dr Hackett said leant into the blurring of lines between fact and fiction.

Asked if brand placements drove sales, Mr Rigby said: “A logo in the background is simply awareness at best”.

“The brands that will see a real lift are the ones that built a purchase occasion around the film,” he said, pointing to Coca-Cola’s limited edition cans.

That’s all.