Meryl Streep Recalls ‘Devil Wears Prada’ Being Dubbed As “Chick Flick”

Although Miranda Priestley earned 20th Century Fox more than $326 million worldwide, The Devil Wears Prada had to fight for its budget.

Meryl Streep recently recalled how the 2006 movie’s classification as a “chick flick” made it difficult to pull together a budget for the David Frankel-helmed adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s novel.

“Twenty years ago, it was categorized as a ‘chick flick,’ and that designation has kind of not worn well after Barbie and Mamma Mia!—to throw that in—and other films that completely catch the studios by surprise that people want to see them, because they have girls in the center of the story, women in the center of the story,” she said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“So, we had to scrabble for our budget. And that was true,” added Streep. “I’ve talked to Greta [Gerwig] about it, that was true with Barbie a little bit, in comparison with what they spend on other films. This one, honey, they spent the money.”

Streep reunites with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada 2, which premieres May 1, also starring Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Lucy Liu, Patrick Brammall, Pauline Chalamet, B. J. Novak, Rachel Bloom, Sydney Sweeney, Lady Gaga and more.

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, Andy (Hathaway) returns to Runway Magazine 20 years after quitting on Miranda (Streep) in Paris. As the publication struggles to keep up with the evolving media landscape, the pair has to convince fellow former assistant Emily (Blunt), now head of a luxury brand, to buy advertising that could save Runway.