The Devil Wears Prada 2 stars' eye-watering salaries revealed — how much Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt were paid

The Devil Wears Prada 2 has already emerged as a milestone success at the box office, and it's only been out for two weeks!

The sequel to the beloved 2006 film, based on Lauren Weisberger's novel of the same name, has made, as of writing, over $440 million at the global box office, with over $150 million of that coming from just the United States and Canada.

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In less than two weeks, the sequel has outgrossed the original, which emerged as a surprise box office hit at the time and made $326 million worldwide (not adjusted for inflation).

And the success of the movie was apparently an investment well made, given how much the three lead actresses were paid for their contributions. Per a new report from Variety, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt were all paid an eye-popping $12.5 million each for their return.

Per the publication, Meryl, 76, was considered the sequel's biggest get and commanded the sky-high salary through her own merit, but was able to negotiate the producers to pay her co-stars Anne and Emily, both 43, the same amount.

Each of them were offered a "favored nations" deal, one that treats all significant partners to an equal sum, and on top of their hefty paychecks, were also offered incentives and bonuses on the film's box office revenue.

While that amount could waver, given the film's monumental early success, Variety reports that sum could go as high as $20 million for each star. Roughly, the film's budget is placed at over $100 million (excluding marketing and promotional costs), which means it's already recouped its cost and then some!

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During an interview with Jenna Bush Hager for TODAY, Meryl revealed that she at first rejected the film. "I read the script. Script was great. And they called me up and they made an offer, and I said, 'No, not going to do it.'"

She explained that it was because she thought she deserved more than was being offered. "I knew it was going to be a hit, and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask. And they went right away and said sure. And I thought, I'm 50, 60 — it took me this long to understand that I could do that."

This kind of deal is not unheard of, and we can look to a recent example of a summer blockbuster to corroborate – Barbie!

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The 2023 smash film adaptation of Mattel's classic doll surpassed expectations both with critics and at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film of the year with nearly $1.5 billion grossed worldwide and receiving critical acclaim (plus an Oscar from eight nominations).

It was revealed back in 2022 per reports at the time that, based on expertise from industry professionals and studio executives, both leading lady Margot Robbie and her Ken-tastic co-star Ryan Gosling were paid equal salaries for their contributions to Barbie, amounting to another $12.5 million each.

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Although Margot, as the movie's co-producer with LuckyChap Entertainment, stood to earn much more thanks to its massive grosses, with reports stating at the time that she received as much as a $50 million payout from box office incentives.