{"id":402151,"date":"2026-04-20T18:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/402151\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T18:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:57:11","slug":"the-devil-wears-prada-2-feels-more-like-a-product-than-a-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/402151\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Devil Wears Prada 2” feels more like a product than a movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

While forging a routine path through JFK airport earlier this month, my partner spotted a few not-so-routine sights. No, it wasn\u2019t just the unusually long lines at TSA<\/a>, courtesy of the government\u2019s reluctance to fund what has become an essential service. And there was certainly nothing abnormal about the airport being crowded with throngs of people still in their pajamas ahead of a 7 a.m. flight. What struck him as strange \u2014 and flabbergasted me, the moment my groggy eyes snapped open to the photos he sent me \u2014 was the parade of multimedia signage around the terminal advertising a small indie film you\u2019ve probably never heard of, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just kidding. Obviously, you\u2019ve heard of \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2.\u201d There are few people in the world who haven\u2019t, if the extent of the film\u2019s advertising is to be believed. Even if you\u2019d somehow spent the last 20 years completely oblivious, avoiding anything related to \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada,\u201d it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ve been thrust into this world of high fashion and huge egos by the massive marketing push for the film\u2019s sequel. Practically everywhere you look, there\u2019s Meryl Streep\u2019s<\/a> fictional editrix-in-chief, Miranda Priestly, and Anne Hathaway\u2019s<\/a> plucky assistant-turned-editor, Andy Sachs, ready for their second big-screen outing few were asking for but everyone will watch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Stefania D’Alessandro\/Getty Images) Marketing for \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d in Italy<\/p>\n

Gone is the film that stood out from a crowd of summer blockbusters with its smart script and chic sensibilities. In its place is the \u201cDevil Wears Prada\u201d Happy Meal experience, designed to market the sequel by reducing the film to its most memorable moments and divorcing it from all of the qualities that allowed the original movie to stand the test of time.<\/p>\n

Over at JFK, the ads stand tall and wide, sprawling through just about every corner of Terminal 8. The outside rail of a moving walkway displays the film\u2019s title and logo in alternating red and white color schemes, while the latest trailer frames weary travelers hustling down the platform, trying to get to their destination without delays. Before boarding an escalator, one must pass a gargantuan wrap-around ad big enough to sport the film\u2019s entire cast, including supporting players Emily Blunt<\/a> and Stanley Tucci<\/a>. And then there are the rectangular prisms jutting out of the floor, standing 20 feet apart from the last, with LED screens blasting clips from the movie into viewers\u2019 subconscious. With their prime, costly placement in thoroughfares that hundreds of thousands of people walk through every day, these are more than mere advertisements; they\u2019re glowing monuments to Big Sequel \u2014 extremely compelling (and telling) portraits of American decadence, and how art is commodified into a product meant to sell, sell, sell.<\/p>\n

Want more from culture than just the latest trend? The Swell highlights art made to last.
Sign up here<\/a> <\/p>\n

The marketing doesn\u2019t stop there, not even close. Currently, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d and its distributor, 20th Century Studios (which, it\u2019s worth noting, is owned by Disney), have collaborations with Grey Goose vodka, TRESemm\u00e9 haircare, Target, Old Navy, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Cond\u00e9 Nast. At the same time, Disney is brusquely cross-promoting their other titles alongside the film at every opportunity, pursuing the two words every advertising exec dreams of: brand synergy.<\/p>\n

If \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d was a successful meeting of culture and business, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d \u2014 at least from a marketing standpoint \u2014 is a bleak example of how, if enough people enjoy it, all culture will eventually become business. Gone is the film that stood out from a crowd of summer blockbusters with its smart script and chic sensibilities. In its place is the \u201cDevil Wears Prada\u201d Happy Meal experience, designed to market the sequel by reducing the film to its most memorable moments and divorcing it from all of the qualities that allowed the original movie to stand the test of time.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not uncommon for a studio to burn money promoting a highly anticipated sequel, seeing these resources allocated to a property like \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d is somewhat unusual. Released in the summer of 2006, the film was a big hit, garnering positive reviews from critics and instant adoration from audiences, who understood the movie was far more complex than the reductive \u201cchick flick<\/a>\u201d label many had been quick to slap onto it. Aline Brosh McKenna\u2019s screenplay was wickedly clever, and David Frankel\u2019s direction was appropriately becoming for a film about fashion publishing. Factor in a knockout cast delivering a handful of terrific performances, and \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d had the perfect recipe to endure.<\/p>\n

However, the film wasn\u2019t exactly a studio tentpole. Despite garnering an Oscar nomination for Streep and an ingenious bit<\/a> at that year\u2019s ceremony, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d didn\u2019t have the immediate cultural cache of something like its equally memeable predecessor, \u201cMean Girls.\u201d For years, people talked about it as one of the few movies that, if you ever caught it on TV while channel surfing, you\u2019d stop what you were doing and watch the rest of the film. As social media took hold, so did the conversation about the film\u2019s \u201creal villain.\u201d (There isn\u2019t one, as I outlined<\/a> a few years back.) From there, the movie was immortalized in the meme canon with Andy\u2019s Chanel boots and Miranda\u2019s famous cerulean monologue. Reciting that monologue in its entirety might\u2019ve been a fun party trick, but it was also one of the film\u2019s badges of honor, proof that \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d was unique enough to merit fans\u2019 affinity for the next two decades.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Stefania D’Alessandro\/Getty Images) A view of the experiential hub inspired by the editorial office of \u201cRunway\u201d, the fictional magazine featured in the movie \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d in Milan, Italy.<\/p>\n

But such fervent veneration is a double-edged sword, especially for a film that has as much to offer in every meticulously manicured frame, song choice, tailored costume, witty one-liner and bit of dramatic resonance as \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada.\u201d When the sequel was greenlit, there were no doubt hundreds of hours of marketing meetings, where executives decided which aspects of the first film could be played up to promote the sequel. That\u2019s likely why, if you\u2019ve seen any of the clips or trailers for \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2,\u201d there is only a loose sense of the film\u2019s actual plot. Instead, the trailers focus on Miranda\u2019s withering put-downs and Andy\u2019s former fashion-deficient way of dressing. (An entire scene where she and Tucci\u2019s Nigel Kipling go back to the Runway closet, just so he can tease her again? Come on.)<\/p>\n

When the film\u2019s first trailer premiered during this year\u2019s Grammy awards, it was veritable fan service. But only for the kind of fan who enjoyed the first film for its scathing remarks, rather than its singular tale of a woman caught between two worlds, trying to figure out which one fit her best \u2014 and how deeply alienating they could both be, depending on the circumstances. It was as if the trailer catered to the fans who loved \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d as an idea, rather than as a movie. Ironic, considering the first film\u2019s teaser trailer<\/a> was simply a sequence from the movie, condensed and re-edited, but told prospective viewers infinitely more about the film without having to say anything narrative-specific.<\/p>\n

In the weeks that followed, the sequel\u2019s marketing intensified and spread at an unprecedented rate. Pop-ups in Los Angeles and New York offered a free novelty edition of Runway, now listed for thousands of dollars on eBay. Ads appeared in subway stations, on billboards and, of course, in airports. Vogue put Streep on its May cover, dressed as Miranda, seated next to Anna Wintour \u2014 once reluctant to accept being the inspiration for the character, but now embracing it to sell magazines. Lady Gaga and Doechii collaborated on a song for the film\u2019s soundtrack, with more Gaga music and a cameo appearance rumored to be on the way.<\/p>\n

A sequel of this size can stand on its own. Putting a red pump on a can of Diet Coke isn\u2019t going to be the factor that sways ticket sales. One might call it a way to celebrate the legacy of the first film, but that movie\u2019s substantial legacy looks far less sturdy when it\u2019s commodified and resold.<\/p>\n

Then, there are the clothing collaborations. Old Navy\u2019s is somewhat tasteful and tongue-in-cheek, offering a cable-knit cerulean sweater with a charming red high-heel logo, tote bags and tops with a few of the movie\u2019s key phrases printed on them. Target\u2019s collection, on the other hand, is one of the most ghastly sartorial abominations ever made, let alone sold for real money. One shirt screams \u201cPARIS\u201d in all caps, while another says, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to Paris,\u201d which isn\u2019t even a line from the film itself, but rather from an episode of \u201cThe Office\u201d where Michael Scott becomes obsessed with \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d and walks around doing his best Miranda. Imagine someone you know, strolling into a gathering wearing a ratty t-shirt<\/a> with a (seemingly) AI-generated illustration of a bagel, coffee and sunglasses on it, featuring the words, \u201cDID SOMEONE EAT AN ONION BAGEL?\u201d in highly stylized type. Would you not politely take them aside and ask them if they\u2019re going through something, and how you can help? I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s any other logical route.<\/p>\n

Now, I haven\u2019t seen the sequel yet. I\u2019m dying to, as you can probably tell. And I deeply hope it will be good, though the part of me who has seen the first movie hundreds of times and could write thousands more words about its excellence is understandably skeptical. Perhaps all of these inane brand collaborations are an ironic tie-in \u2014 a commentary on how the print industry has been forced to commodify itself to focus on brands as a larger entity, rather than relying on the success of individual magazine titles. But that would be giving a lot of credit to a movie that has yet to prove the reason for its existence; a film that, by all available accounts, looks aesthetically like a warmed-up, overly digitized, Super Bowl commercial version of its progenitor.<\/p>\n

Perhaps if there were a measurable commitment to promoting \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d in a way that aligns with the first film, this unnecessary spectacle wouldn\u2019t feel so grating. But as it stands, these product partnerships degrade the value of the original film and the property as an artistic entity. It\u2019s sort of like if Andy Warhol slapped his name on a can of Campbell\u2019s soup \u2014 Warhol x Campbell\u2019s Chicken & Stars \u2014 instead of painting them as pop art.<\/p>\n

And I get it, studios want to recoup their money. Everyone\u2019s salaries are far higher than they were for the first film, and this sequel cost oodles more to produce. But there\u2019s no reality where \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d doesn\u2019t rake in massive amounts of money just on its name alone.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the problem: A sequel of this size can stand on its own. Putting a red pump on a can of Diet Coke isn\u2019t going to be the factor that sways ticket sales. One might call it a way to celebrate the legacy of the first film, but that movie\u2019s substantial legacy looks far less sturdy when it\u2019s commodified and resold. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d marketing campaign is so garish and transparent that it feels more like an in-universe joke from the first movie, rather than a revelry. Characters in the first film all-out derided things that were poorly made for the sake of consumer attention. Nigel once told Andy, \u201cI\u2019m sure you have plenty more polyblend where that came from,\u201d and now Target is peddling its synthetic clothing collab. It\u2019s not just that all of this promotion is missing the mark; it\u2019s assuming that fans of the film overlooked the original movie\u2019s messaging about being wary of what\u2019s being sold to them, and how.<\/p>\n

But maybe that\u2019s just the natural result of \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d becoming so massively popular throughout the years. Maybe there was no way to avoid this if the film was ever to get the respect it deserves. And maybe I\u2019ve even picked up that novelty edition of Runway magazine myself. I\u2019ll never tell.<\/p>\n

My one hope, though, is that none of this key-jangling makes it into the actual film, that no viewer has to have a callback waved in front of them (at least more than once) and asked to clap their hands and bark like a seal. It\u2019s incredibly frustrating that one of the smartest, most sophisticated studio films of this century \u2014 one that has managed to prevail past male critics\u2019 derision and the fashion industry\u2019s blackballing \u2014 is being reduced to a product, made to drive the sale of other products. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d is the fantastic film that it is because McKenna, Frankel and the entire cast and crew clearly understood that what they were working on was more than just a studio film; it was a story that could cleverly push the boundaries, and ask questions of its audience that they never expected to be confronted with when they sat down for a pithy movie about a fashion magazine. \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada\u201d was always more than it appeared to be from the outside. Its sequel can only hope to say the same.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

about blockbuster mayhem<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While forging a routine path through JFK airport earlier this month, my partner spotted a few not-so-routine sights.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[146,85,46,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-402151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}