A lot of things have changed in the 20 years since “The Devil Wears Prada” came out but, according to Meryl Streep, one of the most major changes was the money the studio was willing to spend. According to the legendary actress, “they spent the money” for “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
Streep’s assessment came during her appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday night. During her interview, the CBS host noted that paparazzi were determined to get photos from set, and surmised that that wasn’t the case while filming the first movie. Streep readily agreed, but pointed out an even bigger difference.
“I mean, 20 years ago it was categorized as a ‘chick flick’ and that designation has kind of not worn well, you know?” she said. “After ‘Barbie’ and ‘Mamma Mia!’ and other other films that completely catch the studios by surprise that people want to see them, because they have girls in the center of the story, women in the center of the story.”
“So, they were not — we had to scrabble for our budget,” she continued. “And that was true — I think, 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.”
Streep isn’t wrong. Despite a stark decline in films made my women in 2025, box office numbers so far this year indicate that female audiences are showing up for female-focused movies. Margot Robbie and Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” saw a 74% opening weekend audience share of women, leading to a $38 million domestic/$83 million global opening for the film.
“The Housemaid,” starring Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney, nabbed a $373 million global theatrical run, and the “Wicked” films saw a 70-72% audience share of women, which combined for $817 million domestic and $1.28 billion worldwide.
It remains unclear exactly what the budget for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” but the first film was made for roughly $35 million.
You can watch Streep’s appearance on “The Late Show” in the video above.
