The Devil Wears Prada returned to theaters in 2026 with one of the biggest legacy sequel launches in recent years, and the cast’s salaries matched the scale of the comeback. According to industry reports, Anne Hathaway earned a massive $12.5 million upfront salary to reprise her role as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Co-stars Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt reportedly received the same base pay under a rare “favored nations” agreement negotiated during production.
The sequel was officially released on May 1, 2026, and exploded at the global box office with a reported $233 million opening weekend. That instant success triggered major backend bonuses for the leading trio, pushing projected final earnings beyond $20 million each.
Streep reportedly pushed for equal pay for the leading trio
According to reports, it is widely believed that Streep had an instrumental role in getting the Devil Wears Prada sequel up and running at 20th Century Studios. Given the popularity of the character she has played, she had immense power in the negotiation process. According to sources, she was initially offered the $12.5 million package.
As a sign of good faith, rather than asking for a significantly higher salary gap, Streep reportedly insisted on matching Hathaway and Blunt’s earnings using the favored nations provision in their deals. This guaranteed equal baseline pay for the entire leading trio and emphasized their collective appeal, which made the first movie such a success.
That is quite a jump from their initial salaries in the 2006 original version. For the first movie, according to reports, Streep reportedly made $4 million, Hathaway made about $1 million, and Blunt earned around $800,000. After a long two decades, all of them ended up in the big leagues due to the sequel.
Backend bonuses have already increased the salary payout
The reported $12.5 million salary was the only upfront payment each star earned. Each actress negotiated backend bonuses based on specific worldwide box office milestones. Because the movie instantly proved profitable, the payments were expected to begin shortly after the initial box office results.
Based on the current projection trends, Hathaway, Blunt, and Streep will earn each over $20 million if they continue to maintain their present earnings trend. International releases and premium format showings are key reasons why the movie is experiencing such success.
In fact, streaming analysis revealed an uptick in viewership for the original movie of 428 percent between March and April 2026 before the sequel was released. It appears the nostalgia of the original movie was responsible for its incredible commercial success.
As director David Frankel noted in an interview, a considerable chunk of the film’s production budget was spent on the movie’s stars. The 2006 version reportedly cost just $35 million. Fortunately, it appears the investment was well worth it as the film already looks set to be one of 2026’s best releases in terms of the box office returns thus far.