Dear Gossips,
There’s been a lot of talk about a possible film sequel to The Devil Wears Prada as Entertainment Weekly is confirming that the cast is in talks – and that means all four of the majors: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci. Also the original director, David Frankel, and the original screenwriter, Aline Brosh McKenna.
Do you want it?
I mean, I don’t not want it. But what would it look like?
Sure, some of the story elements are still there...ish. Runway is Vogue and Vogue is still around. Miranda Priestley is Anna Wintour and Anna is still around. But in the 18 years since the film premiered, magazine publishing is not what it used to be. Understatement. Digital publishing isn’t what it used to be either. Magazines and online publications are struggling. Part of what made The Devil Wears Prada fun was that it was a glimpse into the world of magazine publishing at its peak. Does that fun go away now, almost 20 years later, when everyone is on a f-cking budget and Runway/Vogue has downsized so much?
Also, like so much of pop culture, what was socially acceptable as “bitchy” comedy back then certainly does not work now. And “bitchy” is basically The Devil Wears Prada’s mood board.
What might be interesting though, to me at least, is how the sequel might address workplace standards and how those have changed. Yes, yes, the fashion, the glamour, all of that was certainly what made the movie irresistible but at the heart of the story was the boss-assistant relationship between Miranda and Andy or, Ahhhhn-dreya, which is what Miranda called her.
Miranda often abused her power, not unlike so many executives then – and still now. But back in 2006, we weren’t talking about it in the mainstream. We weren’t posting about sh-tty bosses on Twitter and TikTok. We just ate sh-t all day at work, and on the weekends, without extra pay. And vented to close friends but there really wasn’t any outlet to put that frustration, and certainly no “quiet quitting”, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.
“Quiet quitting” is very much a Gen Z thing. This generation’s approach to work is very much different from the ones that came before. They’re not going over to their boss’s place to deliver the book wellllll after working hours or chasing down the unpublished manuscript of the newest Harry Potter book. Instead they’d probably post a TikTok and put their boss on blast for asking them to chase down a book written by a TERF. And that would go viral and maybe the boss would have to apologise publicly with a notes app statement on Instagram.
Ironically, though, The Devil Wears Prada was the 2003 version of that scene – only Lauren Weisberger had to write a whole ass book, like 70,000 words, get a publisher to publish it, and change all the names! And it only made Anna Wintour MORE famous!
But maybe that’s where you set the story. Or maybe it’s Andy, who was trained in the old ways by Miranda, who can’t get away with them now that she’s in the same stage of her career that Miranda was in when we met her in the first movie.
There’s something to play with there, and I’m curious to see if that’s the direction they go in. If they can get all these deals done. Right now, even though everyone is assuming it’s done, it’s happening, it sounds like they’re still in negotiations. I would imagine a lot of that has to do with the story? None of these people NEED to make this movie. They have to want to make this movie…and that depends on what it is that the movie is trying to say.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
