Twenty years after The Devil Wears Prada became a culture-defining hit, the sequel arrived in New York on Monday night in a scene straight out of Runway.
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci reunited at the Lincoln Center event, as they walked the runway-inspired red carpet and guests turned out in their best high fashion. The Devil Wears Prada 2 sees Streep’s Miranda Priestly still at the top of Runway magazine, as Andy Sachs (Hathaway) returns as features editor and they face off against Priestly’s former assistant turned rival Emily Charlton (Blunt).
In addition to its stars, the Prada creative team also returns, with David Frankel back as director and Aline Brosh McKenna as writer. On the carpet, Frankel told The Hollywood Reporter that he said no to a sequel for 18 years, and would immediately shut down any Hollywood meeting that turned to discussion of it.
But then screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna “came to me with a notion that, gee, this world is shrinking in a major way, this fashion, media world. And what would it be like if you were on this sinking ship and Miranda’s future was not guaranteed and Andy’s future was shaky? How would they deal with that?” said Frankel. “That seemed to create a lot of drama.”
McKenna added that, at the same time they were having these ideas, they heard Streep was open to a sequel, “so we went and sat down with Meryl. My personal belief system is that if Meryl Streep thinks it’s a good idea, it’s a good idea.”
One of the most surprising developments in the sequel’s trailer was that Streep’s Miranda seemed to not remember Hathaway’s Andy, or many of the key events that took place in the original film. Frankel explained that decision may be “a little bit of a ploy on her part” but also “it’s that thing you have when you have your first boss — they mean everything to you, you never forget them and the boss has had a million assistants. You came and you were there for a year, who remembers that?”
McKenna echoed, “It’s been 20 years, how many assistants do we think she’s had? She has two [at a time] so probably 50, I would guess. She definitely doesn’t remember [Andy] on sight, which I think is understandable.”
For her part, Hathaway also told reporters about reprising her role as Andy, emphasizing, “I really love seeing how she treats people. Andy is coming into her power in her life and you’ll see in this movie, she has someone that works for her. I just love her approach. I feel like she’s gentle and kind and it’s a lovely anecdote to maybe the way that she was treated.”
Tucci also said he’s happy with where Nigel is two decades later — still alongside Miranda at Runway — “because it makes sense. There’s an emotional trajectory to it that’s logical.”
As Frankel kept the door open for more stories in the Prada world (“I’m still really curious about where these characters go and if there was a possibility, of course we’d entertain it”), one key difference this time around is Anna Wintour’s public support of the project, after rejecting comparisons to Miranda at the time of the original. McKenna explained of that pivot, “Once she saw the first movie I think she felt safe and comfortable, so I think she had a certain level of trust with us for this movie. I’m excited to hear what she thinks about it.”
The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits theaters May 1.
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