David Frankel

In The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026), Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs is back opposite Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly, and much of the pleasure lies in that familiar pairing. Frankel is a capable director of ensembles, good at making their company agreeable and sometimes too content to stop there. The reunion is amiable and well acted. It also gives its returning cast rather less to do, leaving the actors to sustain our interest when the writing does not.

After writing and producing for television, he found his defining feature breakthrough with The Devil Wears Prada (2006). The studio films that followed included Marley & Me (2008) and the relationship comedy-drama Hope Springs (2012), while television remained part of his work. His collaborative, actor-led rehearsals offer a practical explanation for the strong performances. Trusting the cast is sensible, though their skill can make a weak script pleasant enough to leave unchallenged.

Band of Brothers (2001), for which he directed two episodes, is a useful reminder that his work extends beyond amiable comedy. We rate the series highly for its patient attention to the men of Easy Company and its ensemble, anchored by Damian Lewis. The occasional overstatement in the action and music is the reservation. It would be careless to give Frankel all the credit, or all the blame, for the whole series, but this shared work belongs alongside the features.

The difficulty is clearest in his return to fashion with writer Aline Brosh McKenna. The Devil Wears Prada 2 brings Andy and Miranda together amid the decline of print magazines, artificial intelligence and the threat of scandal. We enjoyed their reunion because Hathaway and Streep give the familiar pairing an ease the thin material needs. But Frankel and McKenna are reluctant to upset anyone, and the film has little to add about the magazine business it depicts.

Choose the Prada sequel for its actors rather than its observations about publishing. There is no need to mistake an undemanding evening for a wasted one. We would like Frankel’s next script to give his cast something more uncomfortable to work with.