The Devil Wears Prada 2’s Success Shows What Disney Movie Sequel Needs to Happen Next

The critical and commercial success of The Devil Wears Prada 2 is all the proof Disney should need to realize that now is the perfect time to finally make The Princess Diaries 3.

Released this past weekend, The Devil Wears Prada 2 shattered expectations to gross $234 million at the global box office. It has already made back its $100 million budget and then some.

The long-awaited sequel to 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada also earned glowing reviews from both critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is certified fresh at 77% with critics and positive at 87% with audiences.

How The Devil Wears Prada 2’s box office proves the time is now to make The Princess Diaries 3

The original Devil Wears Prada’s entire box office was $327 million, a benchmark that its sequel should breeze past within a week. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is the second time in less than a year that Disney has released a female-fronted legacy sequel to this type of success.

The first was Freakier Friday, which hit theaters in August 2025. It grossed $153 million during its theatrical run, against a budget of $45 million.

It’s not difficult to see that a pattern is beginning to emerge here with these two releases. Both are long-awaited legacy sequels that managed to bring back all the main stars and appeal to new and returning audiences. If Disney wanted to keep this momentum going and strike while the iron is hot, the obvious choice would be The Princess Diaries 3.

The Princess Diaries is another Disney-owned, female-fronted property that fans have been wanting to see revived for more than a decade now. A third film was briefly in development in 2016 before being shelved after director Garry Marshall’s death.

It reentered development in 2024 with Adele Lim in the director’s chair and Anne Hathaway confirmed to return as lead star. While promoting The Devil Wears Prada 2, Hathaway confirmed that “we’re constantly working” on The Princess Diaries 3.

Still, with development having been slow-moving since 2024, the success of Freakier Friday and The Devil Wears Prada 2 proves that Disney should finally move ahead with The Princess Diaries 3. Audiences will clearly come out for these types of legacy sequels, and with Star Wars and Marvel no longer surefire successes at the box office, revisiting the world of The Princess Diaries is the easiest win Disney could make right now, for both its fans and its bottom line.

Source: Comingsoon.net