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“The Devil Wears Prada 2″ brings back the flash and fashion of the original film but also offers insight into a transformed media landscape, its stars and makers said at the movie’s European premiere in London on Wednesday.
The sequel comes two decades after “The Devil Wears Prada”, with filmmaker David Frankel returning to direct from a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna.
It sees Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, getting laid off from her investigative journalism job and reuniting with her boss from 20 years ago, the feared fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, portrayed by Meryl Streep.
Priestly’s “Runway” is also grappling with challenges presented by the digital age and the decline of print media.
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“It sort of underwrites all the flash and fun and music and the uncertainty of this current moment,” said Streep on the red carpet. “The media landscape, but in every form of business, life, music, art, movies, pick a thing, we’re all being undermined. That’s where the movie kind of starts and it goes from there to see what these characters do with that new landscape.”
Unlike the first film, which was based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel of the same name, the sequel features an original storyline.
“Everybody’s facing challenges, economic challenges. And so it felt like thematically it’d be something that would interest people,” said McKenna. The writing came with huge pressure, McKenna said, but she sought to have fun while finding the characters “the way you would an old friend”.
Reuniting with much of the original team was “magic”, said Hathaway, who had few conditions for reprising her role.
“I just said that I thought Andy hadn’t started the family portion of her life, if that ever happened for her. That was my one condition,” she said, adding she was open to everything else - unlike Streep, who joked her many stipulations included “no heels over four inches”.
Stanley Tucci also returns as Priestly’s devoted right-hand man Nigel, while her overworked assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) has moved up to a powerful position in the fashion industry.
Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh and Simone Ashley are among new cast members. Celebrity cameos in the sequel, which was shot in New York and Milan, include pop star Lady Gaga and fashion designer Donatella Versace.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” begins its global theatrical rollout on April 29.
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By Hanna Rantala
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