‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ defeats ‘Mortal Kombat II’ at box office

LOS ANGELES – “The Devil Wears Prada 2” held onto the top spot at the box office in its second weekend in North American theaters, taking in another $43 million this weekend, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The sequel to 2006’s comedic drama about the fashion industry, in which Meryl Streep plays a character loosely based on longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour, narrowly beat out “Mortal Kombat II,” which opened with $40 million, Comscore reported.

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Meryl Streep, left, and Anne Hathaway in a scene from “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” (Macall Polay/20th Century Studios via AP)

“Michael,” the biopic about Michael Jackson starring the late pop superstar’s nephew Jaafar Jeremiah Jackson, grossed $36.5 million Friday through Sunday in its third weekend.

“The Sheep Detectives,” a family comedy and murder mystery from Amazon/MGM Studios that blends live action and CGI, opened in fourth place with $15.9 million.

“Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)” opened with $7.5 million. The concert film was co-directed by James Cameron and Eilish, the LA-born music superstar, and features footage from her 2025 tour.

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” was sixth with $6.6 million in its sixth weekend, and has now grossed over $412 million in the United States and Canada.

Rounding out the top 10 releases were “Project Hail Mary” ($6 million), “Hokum” ($3.3 million), “Deep Water” ($780,274) and “Animal Farm” ($663,624).

Battle of the sequels

In a box office battle of the sequels, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” had the slight edge over “Mortal Kombat II” in North American theaters.

This weekend had wide variety of newcomers playing in wide release, including the family-friendly whodunnit “The Sheep Detectives” and a James Cameron co-directed Billie Eilish concert film.

But it was the holdover that triumphed. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which has grossed $433.2 million worldwide in its first 12 days in release, helped push The Walt Disney Studios over $2 billion globally for the year. It’s also surpassed the total grosses of the first film, which earned $327 million globally in 2006, not accounting for inflation.

Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore, said Mother’s Day might have helped “Prada” get the advantage over the newcomer and have such a modest 44% dip in weekend two.

“The release date was perfect,” Dergarabedian said. “This may be the new blueprint for how to start a summer.”

‘Mortal Kombat II’

“Mortal Kombat II” provided some gendered counterprogramming in the second weekend of Hollywood’s summer movie season. Warner Bros. opened the movie in 3,503 locations where it drew a heavily male audience. According to PostTrak, 75% of the ticket buyers were men. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” had almost the exact opposite gender breakdown on its first weekend.

The first movie in this series, “Mortal Kombat,” was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in April 2021 as a part of Warner Bros.’ pandemic-era day-and-date strategy. Reviews have been mixed for the sequel, as was its B CinemaScore. It also earned $23 million from 78 markets internationally, adding up to a $63 million global debut.

‘Michael’

“Michael” landed in third place in its third weekend with another $36.5 million over the weekend, down only 33% from last weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $240.5 million in North America, surpassing the total domestic grosses of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and $577.4 million globally.

Fourth place went to Amazon MGM Studios’ “The Sheep Detectives” which brought in $15.9 million in its first weekend in 3,457 theaters. The quirky, all-ages murder mystery features a starry ensemble including Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson and Nicholas Braun, as well as the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Regina Hall and Patrick Stewart as the sheep who try to figure out who murdered their shepherd. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore. The movie cost a reported $75 million to produce. (With CNS and AP reports)

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