‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ sashays to $234m global box office debut; ‘Michael’ soars past $400m

Worldwide box office: April 24-26

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International markets power ‘Devil’ opening

International markets have collectively far outpaced North America domestic for the opening of Disney/20^th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2.

The fashion-themed sequel topped the North American box office with an estimated $77.0m, and more than doubled that number across 51 international markets: $156.6m. That gives The Devil Wears Prada 2 an estimated worldwide opening of $233.6m – which is 72% of the lifetime total for 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada ($326m), albeit not adjusted for inflation.

Recent estimates had put the worldwide opening for the new film in the $175m to $190m range.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 has delivered the second-highest worldwide opening for a US studio film in 2026, behind only Universal/Illumination/Nintendo’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($313.3m three-day; $372.6m five-day). A week ago Lionsgate/Universal’s Michael launched with a powerful $218.7m worldwide.

In Italy, Australia, South Korea and Brazil, The Devil Wears Prada 2 has opened bigger than any other US studio film so far this year. The film has provided the biggest ever opening for a Meryl Streep film – domestically, internationally and globally – beating the two Mamma Mia! movies.

EMEA leads international regions with an estimated $78.1m – also beating North America. Fashion-forward Italy (home to the Prada brand, of course) leads all international markets with an estimated $16.6m opening – the fourth biggest debut of all time in the territory. It’s rare that Italy posts a bigger number than Europe’s top box office markets for US films: UK/Ireland, Germany and France.

Brazil (an estimated $12.6m) comes second in the international territory ranking, powering the Latin America region to $38.5m. Mexico was not far behind with an estimated $11.7m.

For Asia/Pacific (an estimated $40.0m opening), it’s Australia ($9.4m) and China ($8.5m) that lead, followed by Japan ($6.1m) and South Korea ($4.8m).

The other top markets are all in Europe: UK/Ireland (an estimated $12.0m), Germany ($8.3m), France ($8.0m) and Spain ($5.2m).

The Devil Wears Prada 2 has already exceeded the lifetime total of the original The Devil Wears Prada in 37 markets across EMEA and Asia/Pacific, plus in every Latin American territory and the region as a whole (not adjusted for inflation).

Vietnam is the sole market yet to open, and welcomes the film this coming weekend.

The original The Devil Wears Prada saw strong word of mouth power the film to a strong multiple of its opening weekend by the end of its run (for example x4.5 in North America). This time, huge anticipation for the sequel delivered a very powerful opening, and the box office will likely prove more front-loaded.

Still, with a production budget reported at $100m, The Devil Wears Prada 2 looks set for a highly profitable trajectory, even factoring in marketing costs, revenue splits with cinemas and – presumably – star salary enhancements or participation linked to box office revenue.

The Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna both return for the sequel, as do lead actors Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci.

‘Michael’ hits $424m after second weekend

Universal’s international release of music biopic Michael is pulling ahead of Lionsgate’s domestic release, thanks to stronger holds in markets outside North America.

Still, both distributors will be delighted with numbers so far: $183.8m in North America, $240.1m for international, and thus $423.9m worldwide.

Box office for Antoine Fuqua’s film fell 44% from the opening session in North America (yielding an estimated $54.0m second weekend) and just 21% across international holdover markets ($80.9m for the weekend).

Michael resisted competition from The Devil Wears Prada 2 to retain the weekend box office top spot in France, Spain, Netherlands, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Malaysia.

In cumulative, UK/Ireland (down an estimated 28% from the opening weekend) leads the international pack with $30.0m so far, ahead of France (down just 10%) with $21.2m.

Next come Mexico ($17.8m so far), Italy ($15.7m), Brazil ($14.9m), Spain ($13.8m), Germany ($13.7m) and Australia ($13.4m).

With its worldwide total north of $400m, Michael is now the second-highest grossing music biopic of all time, behind only Bohemian Rhapsody ($911.0m). Both films are produced by Graham King. Third in that league table is Elvis ($288.7m) with Straight Outta Compton ($201.6m) and Rocketman ($195.3m) in fourth and fifth.

Michael is running ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody at the same stage of release – although it’s worth recalling that the Freddie Mercury biopic enjoyed notably sustained box office success, buoyed by a successful awards campaign including leading actor wins for Rami Malek at Bafta and Oscar in 2019. Box office legs for Michael have yet to be discovered.

Holiday season boosts China box office

China’s Labour Day holiday (May 1) and Golden Week (May 1-5) saw strong new film releases enter the market, led by Cold War 1994 and Vanishing Point both opening at $20m-plus.

Comscore and local data gatherer Artisan Gateway have reported slightly different numbers on the two films.

Hong Kong crime thriller Cold War 1994 (an estimated $23.1m from five markets according to Comscore; $21.2m in China per Artisan Gateway) is written and directed by Longman Leung, and is a prequel to Cold War (2012) and Cold War 2 (2016). Franchise newcomers Daniel Wu and Terrance Lau lead the cast, and Chow Yun-fat is among cast members returning from the earlier films.

Crime drama Vanishing Point (an estimated $22.9m from China only according to Comscore; $24.2m in China measured by Artisan Gateway) is directed by Taiwan-born Cheng Wei-Hao (Marry My Dead Body) and stars Ryan Zheng, Hacun Liu and Roy Chiu.

Also in China’s box office top five are The Devil Wears Prada 2 and new local releases Being Towards Death ($7.0m opening) and No One Is Closer Than We ($3.8m).

‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ closes in on $900m

Illumination/Nintendo’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is set to be the first film of 2026 to hit $900m worldwide box office. Universal’s videogame-adapted sequel added an estimated $44.3m worldwide at the weekend, taking the total to $894.2m.

Three years ago, The Super Mario Bros. Movie stood at $1.16bn at the same stage of release (ie after five weekends), on its way to a lifetime total of $1.36bn. It remains to be seen whether Galaxy Movie has the legs to hit $1bn.

Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary has added an estimated $16.0m worldwide in its seventh weekend of play, taking the cumulative total to $638.4m. The Andy Weir science fiction novel adaptation is rapidly closing in on Chinese film Pegasus 3 ($649.9m) – currently the second-biggest worldwide hit of 2026, behind only The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

But team Project Hail Mary should not rest easy. Both Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2 could soon be snapping at its heels.

• Films not in English that win top awards at select fests to be eligible for international feature Oscar