The 2026 summer box office is officially underway, as 20th Century’s “The Devil Wears Prada 2” has arrived in theaters with $10 million grossed in Thursday previews.
Since it is so rare for a female-driven legacyquel to get such a prime spot on the release calendar, the best comp for “Prada 2” is last year’s summer kickoff film, Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts*,” which earned $11.5 million from preview screenings and went on to earn a $74.3 million domestic opening. “Prada 2” is projected to at least match that opening, if not exceed it.
Like its predecessor, “Devil Wears Prada 2” is getting positive reception with early Rotten Tomatoes scores of 79% critics and 88% audience. The film will face some competition from Lionsgate’s “Michael,” which has been drawing a female-majority audience over the past week and is already on the cusp of passing $300 million in global grosses.
Between the two films, plus holdovers from “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Project Hail Mary,” the first weekend of the summer season should pass the $144 million overall gross of last year. That will be needed to make up for what will be expected to be a much lower Memorial Day weekend than last year’s record $330 million total fueled by “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”
More to come…