SPOILERS for The Devil Wears Prada 2

The Devil Wears Prada 2 will be released next week and reviews are embargoed for another few days, but Variety had an interesting piece on a major plotline of the film. Keep in mind, the sequel takes place in the present day, in real time, twenty years after the first film. The changing landscapes of the fashion industry and the print-media industry are reflected in the sequel. Which means that the plot revolves around evil billionaires. One evil billionaire in particular, who might be loosely based on a well-known figure who has been trying to buy his wife’s way into fashion’s upper echelon. That’s right, there’s a Jeff Bezos-esque character, played by Justin Theroux.

“The Devil Wears Prada” was groundbreaking in numerous ways when it first hit movie theaters 20 years ago – namely for its razor-sharp satire of the world of high fashion and its supreme leader, Vogue’s Anna Wintour. The sequel, however, has different power players on its mind: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the billionaire couple who have transformed into effigies of the 1%.

That was the buzz out of New York this week, following Monday’s world premiere of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” at Lincoln Center. The filmmakers reserved their incisive commentary not for Wintour or her staff, but for their notable friends and benefactors The Bezoses.

Although reviews are embargoed until next week, Variety spoke to five people who have seen the film in New York or London, where it screened on Wednesday night, about a storyline involving Emily Blunt, the beloved malcontent of the first film. Once the social-climbing assistant to Streep’s Priestly, Blunt’s character, also named Emily, has evolved into a figure that now very much resembles Sánchez Bezos.

Drenched in designer labels and working at the house of Christian Dior, Blunt’s Emily has become the pretentious partner of a billionaire tech mogul played by Justin Theroux, sources said. Theroux is said to be a mashup of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk – one who undergoes a dramatic body transformation (the actor is seen in flashbacks wearing layers of “fat” prosthetics) after coming into extreme wealth. And now that he’s fit and socially accepted in Miranda’s circle, he lavishly spends on his beautiful partner, buying her whatever she wants. Furthermore, actor Lucy Liu has been cast as Theroux’s first wife – a do-gooder who moves through the world solving problems with her divorce windfall (a nod to MacKenzie Scott, Jeff’s first wife, who also inspired the Maya Rudolph Apple comedy “Loot”).

…And Blunt’s character is out for revenge. Once a long-suffering underling to Streep’s Priestly, her fortunes have now dramatically reversed. A subplot in “Prada 2” follows Blunt’s efforts to get her oligarch lover to buy Runway – the franchise’s fictional magazine and stand-in for Vogue.

This plot point directly references a yearslong rumor that the Bezos couple were kicking the tires on acquiring Vogue’s publisher Condé Nast (which also owns The New Yorker, GQ and Vanity Fair, among others); a 2025 Vogue digital cover featuring Sánchez Bezos in her wedding gown was seen in some circles as a gesture from Wintour to a perspective new boss. In her Times interview, Sánchez Bezos denied the possibility of acquiring Condé, adding, “I wish!” But the idea has persisted.

[From Variety]

Wow. This is truly the first time I’m hearing any of this – I thought Emily would still be working in fashion in some way, but the idea of that character connected to a Bezos-like billionaire is… something. Hilariously, this might explain why Justin Theroux’s face looked so strange for several months too – perhaps some “Method” acting with Botox and fillers for the role. Anyway, it sounds good, right? Like, I can see why all of the actors are so proud of the sequel. It sounds like a fun story. I wonder if Jeff and Lauren Bezos are going to be mad about it. Keep in mind, the Met Gala is right around the corner and they really are underwriting everything, from the Costume Institute exhibition to the gala itself.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.