‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Shows the Legacy-quel Is Alive (and Fashionable) at the Box Office

The sequel to the 2006 fashion hit made $233.6 million worldwide, the second-biggest opening of the year.

“Top Gun: Maverick” was not the first “legacy-quel” — a nostalgia play sequel years or decades after the original that effectively remakes the original for a younger audience — but it is the benchmark for which all legacy-quels hope to strive. With $1.5 billion worldwide, it’s possibly the only example of a legacy sequel that not only lives up to the original but surpasses it.

And it’s why we will keep getting movies like “The Devil Wears Prada 2” from now until these movies consistently stop doing well. The sequel to 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” made $233.6 million worldwide this weekend, making it the second-highest opening of the year (behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”). It did incredibly well internationally and actually opened slightly below expectations domestic with $77 million in North America. And, not factoring in inflation, the sequel has already made 72 percent of what the original made in its lifetime of $326.5 million worldwide.

It wasn’t a given that “Prada 2” would be a runaway (runway?) hit, even if the star power of Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt has grown exponentially since the original came out. Last year, Disney released a legacy-quel to another 20+ year old comedy, “Freakier Friday,” which did fine but topped out at $153.1 million, which “Prada 2” surpassed on its international gross alone. “Tron: Ares” from last year was a legacy-quel to a legacy-quel, and it bombed hard with $142 million against a $220 million budget.

Clearly the nostalgia was there, and the word of mouth helped the film live up to the hype. The film got an A- CinemaScore, respectable critic reviews, and theaters themselves helped activate their audiences. Theater chains like Alamo, Cinemark, and Cinergy had dress-up costume screenings; Regal had photo booths and cosmetics “Glam Stations”; and EVO Entertainment had a “Cerulean” colored cocktail and even a “Luxury Claw Machine” that let guests try to win a designer handbag.

Part of the other reason the legacy-quel is now so common and enduring has plenty to do with streaming. When a new sequel comes out, everyone goes back to watch the original first, duh. Month over month between March and April, streaming of the original “Devil Wears Prada” was up a whopping 428 percent, according to Nielsen. Executives love to see it, because it all factors into the calculations of what makes a movie profitable in the modern age.

Rival studios are also going to be looking at “The Devil Wears Prada 2” very closely. Coming up, we’ll be seeing legacy-quels like “Scary Movie” via Paramount, “Practical Magic 2” via Warner Bros., “Focker-in-Law” via Universal, and “Spaceballs: The New One” from Amazon MGM. “Prada 2” is probably the comp WB will be eyeing for “Practical Magic 2” as, like the original “Devil Wears Prada,” “Practical Magic” has grown with some cult appreciation years after it did modestly at the box office ($94 million in 1998) and after Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock’s star power has likewise rocketed.

When will studios and streamers cool it with 20-years-later sequels? Did we really need a new “Ghostbusters,” “Gladiator,” “Happy Gilmore,” or “Hocus Pocus” when the originals are still there? It’s easy: Hollywood will stop making them when you all stop going.