Sequel pulls 150,000 admissions on Wednesday in 2026's strongest single-day debut
"The Devil Wears Prada 2" has marched into Korean theaters in formidable fashion, opening atop the local box office Wednesday with the year's biggest opening day to date.
The 20th Century Studios sequel sold 150,769 tickets on its opening day, according to the Korean Film Council's box office tracker.
It edged past the opening-day haul of homegrown phenomenon The King's Warden — the period drama that has dominated the market since its February bow and now sits as the highest-grossing Korean release of all time.
David Frankel's follow-up to the 2006 fashion-world comedy launched in Korea two days ahead of its North American release, where it hits theaters May 1. Cumulative admissions stood at 151,770 as of Thursday morning.
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all return for the sequel. The story picks up two decades on, with Andy Sachs back at fashion magazine Runway as its new features editor. There she reunites with Miranda Priestly and former colleague Emily, now a luxury-brand executive, as the trio jockey for footing in a changing media landscape.
Justin Theroux and Kenneth Branagh join the cast as new additions.
Streep and Hathaway visited Seoul earlier this month on the promotional trail, taping an episode of tvN talk show You Quiz on the Block and sitting for a high-profile interview with K-pop star Jang Won-young for Vogue Korea.
Trailing behind in second was Nintendo and Illumination animation Super Mario Galaxy, which also opened Wednesday and drew 60,439 admissions for a cumulative 63,466.
Korean horror flick Salmokji rounded out the top three with 59,060 admissions Wednesday, pushing its running total to 2,135,899.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
