The Classic Anne Hathaway Movie Crushing It On Netflix
Some movies manage to stand the test of time ... including this beloved Anne Hathaway comedy. It's pretty unsurprising that "The Devil Wears Prada" — released in 2006, directed by David Frankel, and written by Aline Brosh McKenna — has remained a favorite for fans of the Oscar-winning actor throughout the years, and it's made it into Netflix's top 10 most-watched films as of February 2024.
The movie, which is based on Lauren Weisberger's novel of the same name, focuses on Hathaway's Andrea "Andy" Sachs getting a "dream job" working at the high-fashion magazine Runway as the second assistant to the uber-powerful editrix Miranda Priestly, played to perfection by an outstanding Meryl Streep. (Miranda is somewhat infamously and allegedly based on the matriarch of Vogue, Anna Wintour.)
To say Andy seems unfit for the job at first is ... an understatement. She doesn't care about fashion or clothing and wants to be a serious journalist, but she's also acutely aware that working alongside Miranda, her first assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), and the magazine's art director Nigel (Stanley Tucci) will help her get any job she wants at a different magazine. So how does Andy fare at Runway? Not particularly well at first.
The Devil Wears Prada sees Andy rise through the ranks at Runway — at her own risk
At the beginning of her time at Runway, Andy is unmotivated at best and dismissive at worst, referring to her coworkers as "the clackers" (because of the noises their high heels make on the ground) and snidely laughing when Miranda chooses between two similar-looking belts for a photoshoot. (This leads to the film's famous monologue about the shade of blue known as "cerulean," delivered expertly by Meryl Streep.) Ultimately, Andy realizes she has to make her situation at Runway work for her and asks Nigel for help, which he begrudgingly gives.
Once Andy dons the latest fashions and fully becomes a "clacker," her professional life soars to new heights ... while her personal life crumbles. Her friends and her boyfriend Nate (Adrian Grenier) don't understand her hectic work life, and Andy can't keep everything together. In the end, though, while Andy is with Miranda for work in Paris, she realizes that she doesn't want what Miranda has or her previous humdrum life, but a third, different thing.
"The Devil Wears Prada" feels relatable to anyone who's ever dealt with a mercurial, hellish boss — which is likely why it's been so popular for so long. So will we ever see a sequel?
Will there ever be a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada?
Author Lauren Weisberger did write a sequel to her original novel, titled "Revenge Wears Prada," which was released in 2013. But in a 2022 appearance on "The View," Anne Hathaway said she doesn't think a sequel would be totally doable. Why? Mostly because, as she pointed out, the movie centers around a print magazine, and many publications like Runway have transitioned into digital formats.
"I don't know if there can be," Hathaway said at the time (via Entertainment Weekly). "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. It's just very different now."
With that said, Hathaway clearly would love to reunite with her co-stars. "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," she said. "It's tempting, but I don't think it's going to happen." Ultimately, what she settled on was a reboot rather than a sequel. "They could relaunch it, find some new people and do it," the actor suggested.