In a world where some movies and TV shows age like moldy cheese, The Devil Wears Prada continues to age like fine wine. Based on the 2003 novel of the same name, The Devil Wears Prada did what every movie hopes to do when it employs a star-studded cast like Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt.
Indeed, the success of The Devil Wears Prada can only be described as catching lightning in a bottle, as made evident by the countless quotes, trivia questions, and Friday movie nights it’s spawned in the nearly two decades since its release. As is the case with any good thing in Hollywood, though, it was only a matter of time before talks of a sequel cropped up.
Hathaway, 39, took the time to flesh out those rumors during an episode of The View earlier this week, and according to Entertainment Weekly gently let down hopeful fans who’ve been holding out for a sequel.
“I don’t know if there can be,” she said, elaborating on the vastly different digital world we live in compared to the age of print media. “I just think that movie was in a different era. Now, everything has gone so digital, and that movie centered around the concept of producing a physical thing, and it’s just very different now.”
The movie attracted countless fans for perfectly balancing the heartwarming and hilarious struggle of college graduate Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Hathaway) who lands a job at the fashion magazine Runway as the personal assistant to the editor-in-chief and queen of cutthroat herself, Miranda Priestly (Streep).
Steep scored an Oscar nomination for her performance, and the movie has since become one of her most iconic roles to date. The idea of seeing her step back into the character is titillating, to be sure, but Hathaway doesn’t think that’s in the cards for the movie’s future, unlike Hocus Pocus 2, which fell short of expectations. Instead, Hathaway suggested an even more blasphemous notion, one that can make even Miranda Priestly shiver in her thigh-high boots.
“It is tempting to think about Andy and Emily needing to get Miranda her coffee and she’s somewhere in Europe and then along the way they pick up Stanley Tucci in Italy, who’s at a restaurant. It’s tempting, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. They could relaunch it, get some new people and do it.”
It’s safe to say a relaunch of The Devil Wears Prada starring an all-new cast is a recipe for failure. Some things are best left alone, and if Hollywood has learned anything from its past failures with reboots and relaunches, which it probably hasn’t, then it will leave The Devil Wears Prada well enough alone. Who in their right mind thinks another actress can outdo Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly? Come on Anne, you know better than that.
Those now in need of a comforting rewatch can happily stream the movie on Peacock.