The Devil Wears Prada is one of those weird female empowerment movies, in that it revolves completely around women being absolute nightmares to each other in an entirely self-created toxic working environment, and it is still supposed to be empowering.
There is still clearly more bizarre empowerment needed, as The Hollywood Reporter says a sequel to the 2006 movie is in development.
Aline Brosh McKenna, screenwriter of the original film, is said to be returning alongside original The Devil Wears Prada producer Wendy Finerman, with the original director David Frankel also in talks to return.
The main cast of Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt have not signed on yet, but there is said to be positive noises in this regard, especially as the script features them, and with the original crew all working on the project there is a feeling of a reunion.
The Devil Wears Prada was adapted from a 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger and was presumed to be semi-autobiographical, based on her stint as assistant to Anna Wintour, Vogue editor in Chief and frequent figure of LMO fun for her involvement in the comical Met Gala. This is when a collection of absolute belters get together in New York and prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they are comical ass-bugles of the highest order.
It tells the story of recent journalism grad Andy Sachs (Hathaway) who, while struggling to break into the NYC writing scene, accepts a job as a personal assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine, Runway.
Miranda is the devil of the title, but her relationship with Andy becomes a twisted teacher-student arrangement.
The original novel had two sequels – Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns and When Life Gives You Lululemons – but it appears they may go in a new direction with this sequel movie.
Reports say the sequel will deal with the current woes of the publishing industry. Miranda is still leading Runway but the magazine is a shell of its former self in the face of the collapse of print media. In a reversal of fortune, she’s reliant on sponsorship from her former tortured assistant Emily (Blunt), who now leads a luxury marketing brand.
The Devil Wears Prada was a success, with 10x return on its budget and two Oscar nominations.
Disney acquired the property in its purchase of Fox.