Devil Wears Prada 2 Holds the Top Spot—But Here's Why Mortal Kombat II's Numbers Matter More Than They Look

TL;DR: Prada 2 repeated as weekend box office champion with $41–43 million in its second frame, edging out Mortal Kombat II's $38.7–40 million debut. Neither film is hitting streaming soon—expect Indian OTT arrivals (Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema respectively) around August–September. Here's what the box office tells you about where both franchises go next.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 just won its second consecutive weekend at the domestic box office. Mortal Kombat II came in second. But that's the least interesting part of the story.

What actually matters: Prada's audience came back. A 44% drop from opening weekend ($76.7 million) to second weekend ($41–43 million) is healthy—especially for a legacy sequel built on fashion drama and Meryl Streep's lethal Miranda Priestly stare. That kind of retention suggests word-of-mouth is doing real work. People aren't just showing up; they're telling their friends to show up.

Mortal Kombat II, meanwhile, undershot its own projections. Pre-release tracking had it landing between $40 million and $46 million. The actual $38.7–40 million opening? That's a miss. A third-place finisher (Michael, the Lionsgate biopic) pulled $36.5–38 million, making this one of the most genuinely competitive weekends of early summer.

Why Prada's Second Weekend Matters More Than the Number Itself

Here's what I keep coming back to: the original Devil Wears Prada came out in 2006. That's nearly 20 years ago. Most sequels released this far out either flop catastrophically or barely hold their opening-weekend audience. Prada 2 is doing neither.

The first film—directed by David Frankel, written by Aline Brosh McKenna from Lauren Weisberger's novel—turned what could've been a shallow workplace comedy into something sharper. It made you root for the villain. The fashion world became a character itself, and Theodore Shapiro's score matched Streep's menace beat-for-beat. The sequel, from what the box office is telling us, preserved enough of that DNA to keep audiences engaged past opening weekend.

What's actually striking is the demographic holding steady: older, predominantly female viewers. That audience doesn't chase novelty. They come back if the film works. And they keep coming back through the Mothers Day corridor, which is exactly where we are now. Most coverage frames this as a simple franchise extension; the more honest read is that Prada 2 is proof the "older female audience" demographic can open and sustain a film at blockbuster scale without superhero IP, without nostalgia bait, and without a single explosion. Hollywood keeps learning this lesson and then forgetting it within six months.

What Mortal Kombat II's Stumble Reveals About Summer Franchises

Mortal Kombat II arrived with franchise momentum and IP recognition. The 2021 reboot found its audience, especially on HBO Max, where it landed day-and-date with theatrical release. This time, no streaming shortcut. Pure theatrical run.

And the opening number shows it: $38.7–40 million is solid, but it's not the $45–50 million range a major action franchise usually commands. According to Box Office Theory, the frame itself was strong, but Mothers Day weekend traditionally favors emotional hooks over spectacle. Prada won that argument.

Here's the thing nobody's saying out loud: the 2021 Mortal Kombat benefited from pandemic-era streaming bundling. People were home. They could watch it on their couch, same night as theatrical release. That film pulled 3.8 million U.S. households on HBO Max in its first five days (per WarnerMedia's own disclosure at the time), which inflated the franchise's perceived fanbase well beyond what pure theatrical demand could support. Now? Competition is fiercer, streaming windows feel longer, and action franchises need international legs to make the math work. The film will almost certainly break even worldwide, but the domestic opening signals Warner Bros. may need to rethink the franchise's theatrical viability on its own.

The Box Office Race Tells You When These Films Hit Streaming in India

This is where it gets practical. Neither film has announced an Indian OTT premiere date, and there's a reason: both are still printing money in theatres across multiple markets.

For Indian viewers tracking these releases:

Devil Wears Prada 2: Disney+ Hotstar is the almost-certain landing pad (20th Century Studios has a standing output deal with Disney's Indian platform). Estimated availability: August–September 2025.
Mortal Kombat II: JioCinema is the most probable home, following the existing Warner Bros.-Reliance streaming arrangement. Same window.
Hindi/regional tracks: Both films will carry Hindi dubs at minimum; Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions are likely given the broad appeal of Prada and the action credentials of Mortal Kombat.
Theatrical window: Strong box office performance typically buys 90–120 days of theatrical exclusivity before streaming.

Movie OTT tracks real-time availability across all major Indian platforms—Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, JioCinema, SonyLIV, Zee5—and sends notifications the moment either title goes live. That's actually useful if you're planning to watch and don't want to hunt through three different apps.

Most box office coverage ignores the India-specific routing entirely. That's a gap. Indian audiences are among the most active repeat consumers of Hollywood franchise films and legacy sequels, and the platform question (Hotstar vs. JioCinema specifically) determines which subscriber base gets first access.

The Franchise History You Need to Know

The original Devil Wears Prada (2006) starred Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs. The setup is straightforward: a young woman from the Midwest moves to New York hoping to become a writer, lands as assistant to the imperious editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine, and gets considerably more than she bargained for. The film grossed over $326 million worldwide and earned Streep an Academy Award nomination. Emily Blunt's performance as the sharp-tongued Emily became iconic (the "I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight" line alone launched a thousand memes), and it's the kind of supporting role that defines a decade of film.

The sequel brings back core cast members two decades later. The fashion world has changed. Miranda, presumably, hasn't.

Mortal Kombat II continues from the 2021 reboot, which itself revived a franchise that started with Paul W.S. Anderson's 1995 action film. The 2021 version earned solid reviews for leaning into its R-rated violence and found massive audience traction on HBO Max. This sequel takes a purely theatrical approach—no day-and-date release, which partly explains why the opening feels conservative compared to the franchise's streaming-era momentum.

What Comes Next: The Franchise Implications

Prada's two-weekend run at the top puts a third chapter squarely on the table at Disney. We're talking cumulative two-weekend domestic total around $115–120 million, plus international cumes still rolling in. Conversation-starter money.

Mortal Kombat II's underperformance doesn't kill the franchise. But it complicates greenlight conversations. Warner Bros. will watch international numbers closely over the next two weeks. Japan, South Korea, and Latin America have historically carried this IP's weight. If overseas delivers, a third film remains plausible. If not, the IP may shift back toward the streaming-first model that gave the 2021 film its second life.

The Practical Takeaway for Streaming Audiences

Both films have theatrical legs left. Prada's audience retention suggests it won't crater in week three. Mortal Kombat II's action-franchise fanbase tends toward repeat viewing. The next two weekends will clarify final domestic tallies before international numbers reshape the narrative entirely.

The part I'm most curious about is whether Prada 2 can hold above $20 million in its third frame, which would put it on pace for a $200 million domestic total and make the case for a threequel almost impossible to argue against.

For Indian audiences specifically, set a tracker alert on Movie OTT for both titles. OTT windows arrive faster than most people expect once theatrical momentum plateaus. Hard to say if Prada 2 holds its ground through Memorial Day weekend, but right now, Miranda Priestly's still in charge.

Watch the official trailer: