Disney’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in the spotlight at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, opening wide in 729 cinemas.
The film sees journalist Andy Sachs return to work at Runway magazine, as editor Miranda Priestly must deal with the decline of traditional magazine publishing amid the threat of a takeover.
Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all return from the first film, with new cast members Justin Theroux, Simone Ashley, Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, and Lady Gaga, the latter of whom also wrote three songs for the sequel.
The Devil Wears Prada opened to £3.3m in October 2006, with a final total of £14.2m. The return of the core creative team, including director David Frankel, writer Aline Brosh McKenna, and producer Wendy Finerman, will raise hopes of an even stronger performance this time, with the first film having achieved cult status in the two decades since its release.
Odeon is reporting over 100,000 advance ticket sales in UK-Ireland, building to its second-busiest weekend of the year so far; while Vue will launch its new brand film titled Feel It Forever, ahead of screenings of Prada 2 and other films this weekend.
After a quieter 2025, the release calendar has several Hathaway titles this year. David Lowery’s Mother Mary opened to £64,108 last weekend for A24; while the actress is on the big ensemble cast for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, opening on July 17.
Prada 2 is Streep’s first on-screen film role since 2021 Netflix release Don’t Look Up; and first significant theatrically released film since Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (£22.2m total) in 2019.
Away from the runway
Counter-programming this weekend comes from Damian McCarthy’s US-Irish horror Hokum, starting in 455 cinemas through Black Bear. The film sees a horror writer go to scatter his parents’ ashes at an Irish inn, unaware that the property is said to be haunted by a witch.
Severance star Adam Scott leads the cast. It is a third feature for electrician-turned-filmmaker McCarthy, after 2020’s Caveat; and 2024’s Oddity, which made £30,885 through Wildcard Distribution.
It has horror competition from Vertigo Releasing’s 4K re-release of Slither, the 2006 directorial debut of now-DC Studios CEO James Gunn, in 98 sites across its first week. The film made £1.2m on its original release through Entertainment Film Distributors.
Asian film distributor Bakrania Media has three titles on release this weekend: Ritesh Deshmukh’s Raja Shivaji, an action biopic about the 17th century Indian ruler, in 56 sites; Sunil Pandey’s contemporary romantic drama Ek Din, produced by Aamir Khan, in 38 sites; and Abhishek’s drama Dhabkaaro in 12 sites.
Limited releases include documentary ADA: My Mother The Architect, about acclaimed Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede, made by her daughter Yael Melamede, in five sites through Verve Pictures; and Cannes 2025 Directors’ Fortnight title Wild Foxes through Conic.
Bulldog Film Distribution opens US indie drama I’ve Seen All I Need To See in two sites on its first weekend; Underground Slate has documentary Searching For Satyrus, about the filmmaker’s search for truth around her acclaimed lepidopterist father; while MusicFilmNetwork has music documentary Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer.
Event cinema releases this weekend include Power To The People: John & Yoko Live In NYC in 110 weekend screenings following a Wednesday 29 start; and MET – Eugene Onegin in 60 cinemas at the weekend, both through Trafalgar Releasing.
Universal holdover Michael will prove the biggest challenge to The Devil Wears Prada 2 taking the top spot. Having recorded the biggest-ever opening for a music biopic with £8.4m last weekend and £11.5m including previews, it will already be ahead of Bob Dylan title A Complete Unknown (£12.4m), and will be chasing down the likes of Rocketman (£23.5m) and Elvis (£27.8m), although Bohemian Rhapsody (£55.4m) remains a lofty target.
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