First Day Grosses $200 Million: "The Devil Wears Prada 2" Box Office Explodes, Original Cast Surpasses Previous Work
Twenty years later, Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs are finally reunited on the big screen. "The Devil Wears Prada 2" premiered in North America and globally on April 30th, with stunning opening results, becoming the most anticipated female-themed sequel during the May Day holiday.
According to multiple foreign media outlets such as Deadline and Variety, the film grossed $33.2 million (approximately RMB 225 million) in North America on its first day, easily topping the daily box office charts. Industry predictions estimate its North American opening weekend gross will be between $75 million and $80 million (approximately RMB 510 million to RMB 540 million), with a potential global first-week box office of $175 million to $190 million (approximately RMB 1.2 billion to RMB 1.3 billion). In the Chinese market, the film's first-day box office also exceeded RMB 16 million, also ranking first among imported films.
This sequel, which has been awaited for nearly twenty years, has a production cost of $100 million, far exceeding the investment scale of the first film, which was approximately $40 million (approximately RMB 270 million).
After box office splits, the actual revenue received by the film's producers is usually less than 50% of the total box office. According to the common "2.5x return on investment" rule – that is, needing to earn 2.5 times the production cost to cover publicity and distribution splits – "The Devil Wears Prada 2" needs a global box office of approximately $250 million (approximately RMB 1.7 billion) to break even.
Given the current opening momentum and historically strong word-of-mouth, surpassing this threshold is highly likely.
As of May 3rd, the film's global cumulative box office has quickly exceeded $100 million. However, due to fierce competition during the summer season, the possibility of reaching $1 billion is relatively small. But its impressive opening is already a huge success for a sequel to a drama film (not a superhero/visual effects blockbuster). It also far exceeds the first film's opening weekend gross of $32.65 million (approximately RMB 223 million).
From Miranda's "White Suit 2.0" to Andy's identity reversal, the return of the original cast and precise topic marketing are the core driving forces that prompted movie fans and female audiences to decisively purchase tickets.
After nearly 20 years of waiting, "The Devil Wears Prada 2" sold $32 million on its first day. Will you go see Miranda and Andy's "century reconciliation" right away?