The Devil Wears Prada 2 Just Embarrassed Mortal Kombat II at the Box Office

Hollywood expected a fight this weekend. It got a fashion show instead.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 stayed at No. 1 at the domestic box office with an estimated $43 million in its second weekend, narrowly holding off Mortal Kombat II, which opened with $40 million. Behind them, Michael kept moving like a genuine box office phenomenon, adding another $36.5 million in third place.

Here is how the domestic top five shaped up for the weekend:

That result is more interesting than it looks. This was supposed to be the weekend when a loud action sequel walked in, threw a few punches and took the chart. Mortal Kombat II had the name, the fanbase and the new-release advantage. Instead, it lost to a sequel built around fashion, office politics, old grudges and the kind of pop-cultural affection Hollywood spends years trying to manufacture.

Miranda Priestly did not just return. She reminded the industry that not every hit needs a cape, a monster, a multiverse or a body count.

Why Did The Devil Wears Prada 2 Stay at No. 1?

Because nostalgia only works when people actually care.

That sounds obvious, but Hollywood forgets it every year. Studios keep bringing back familiar titles and expecting audiences to applaud simply because they recognize the logo. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is different. The original film never really became “old.” It stayed alive through quotes, memes, fashion references, workplace jokes and endless rewatches. For many viewers, it is not just a movie from 2006. It is comfort cinema with claws.

That gave the sequel something Mortal Kombat II could not buy with fight scenes: emotional ownership. People did not need to be persuaded to remember Miranda, Andy, Emily or the icy little universe of Runway magazine. They already had a relationship with them.

The film’s second-weekend drop, around 44%, is also the number that matters. A lot of legacy sequels open big and then collapse once curiosity is satisfied. This one held. Its domestic total has now climbed to roughly $144.8 million, which suggests audiences are not treating it like a one-night nostalgia date. They are still showing up.

Mother’s Day almost certainly helped too. A glossy, star-driven sequel with broad appeal was always going to have an advantage during a weekend built around groups, families and older audiences. But that does not explain everything. Plenty of films get a holiday boost. Fewer use it to beat a major franchise opener.

The uncomfortable takeaway for Hollywood is simple: a well-loved adult-skewing sequel just beat a louder, bloodier, more obvious blockbuster play.

Did Mortal Kombat II Actually Lose, or Just Lose the Headline?

This is where the conversation gets messy.

A $40 million domestic opening is not a bad number. For a fighting-game sequel, it is a perfectly respectable launch. The movie clearly had an audience, and there is still room for international business to shape the final result.

But box office is not only about numbers. It is also about narrative. And the narrative here is brutal.

Mortal Kombat II was the big new release. It had the weekend to itself as the obvious action event. It had fan awareness, online noise and a brand people instantly recognize. Coming in second by only $3 million does not make it a bomb, but it does make it look strangely small next to the expectation.

That is the danger of franchise filmmaking now. Recognition gets people to notice you. It does not guarantee they will choose you.

The next weekend will decide how this opening is remembered. If the film holds well, $40 million will look like a solid start. If it drops hard, the story changes fast. Then this weekend becomes less about a narrow defeat and more about a fanbase showing up early before the wider audience moved on.

For now, Mortal Kombat II has not been knocked out. But it definitely did not land the finishing move.

Why Is Michael Still Refusing to Fade?

The most quietly impressive film in the top three may still be Michael.

The biopic added an estimated $36.5 million in its third domestic weekend, bringing its North American total to about $240.5 million. Worldwide, it has reportedly moved past $577 million. Those are not just strong numbers. They are the kind of numbers that make studios rethink an entire genre.

Music biopics can be tricky. Some explode early because the name is famous, then fade once the core fanbase has turned up. Michael is behaving differently. It is holding like a film that has become part of the wider cultural conversation.

That is not surprising. Michael Jackson remains one of the most famous and complicated pop-culture figures in modern history. The audience is not buying one thing here. They are buying the music, the spectacle, the nostalgia, the controversy and the memory of a global icon. That mixture is powerful, and clearly it is still pulling people into theaters.

This weekend also proves something encouraging about the theatrical market. The top three films did not all chase the same audience. One was a fashion-world legacy sequel. One was a video game action film. One was a music biopic. That variety matters. Cinemas do not need one kind of blockbuster to survive. They need different reasons for different audiences to leave the house.

Can The Devil Wears Prada 2 Become One of 2026’s Biggest Hits?

At this point, pretending otherwise would be silly.

With around $433.2 million worldwide after less than two weeks, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is already far beyond a cute nostalgia comeback. Its reported production budget is around $100 million, so the final profit picture will still depend on marketing costs, theatrical splits and how long the film keeps playing. But the trajectory is excellent.

A worldwide finish above $650 million now looks realistic. If the film continues to hold well domestically and international markets stay interested, something closer to $750 million is not impossible.

That would be a major statement. Not just for this franchise, but for the kind of movies studios keep underestimating. Adult audiences are not gone. Female-skewing event movies are not small. Legacy sequels do not have to be built like superhero films. And sometimes the sharpest weapon at the box office is not a sword, a gun or a fatality.

Sometimes it is a perfectly timed entrance, a killer stare and a franchise people still love.

Mortal Kombat II came ready to fight. Michael kept dancing. But this weekend belonged to The Devil Wears Prada 2.