Mortal Kombat II and Devil Wears Prada 2 battle for Mother's Day weekend box office lead

Mortal Kombat II and The Devil Wears Prada 2 battle for Mother's Day weekend #1, with $40-42M each and Sunday deciding the winner.

Objective Facts

New Line's Mortal Kombat II and 20th Century Studios' The Devil Wears Prada 2 are locked in a close race for the #1 box office position, each projecting $40M-$42M as of Saturday morning, with Mother's Day Sunday providing the ultimate swing factor to determine the winner. The Mortal Kombat sequel, fueled by males, topped Friday with an opening-day gross of $17 million, while The Devil Wears Prada 2 came in second Friday with $9.8 million and is projected to add about $41 million by Sunday. Mortal Kombat II received a B CinemaScore, lower than the previous 2021's installment's B+, though Screen Engine/Comscore's PostTrak definite recommend is quite high at 72%. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is performing as one of the rare legacy sequels that genuinely outperforms the original at every turn, having surpassed the original 2006 film's entire worldwide lifetime earnings of $326.5 million in just nine days.

Deep Dive

The Devil Wears Prada 2's success does not stem from its status as a sequel to a known title, but rather from a unique convergence of conditions that rarely assemble simultaneously. The IP-maximization era, dated to 2008 when Marvel Studios released Iron Man, has led the industry to increasingly treat original films as risky while preexisting brands are treated as hedges against risk. In 2025, nine of the top ten highest-grossing films were sequels, remakes or franchise installments, and in 2024, not a single original film cracked the domestic top ten. The IP-maximization model is the operating logic of an industry that has consolidated into debt-laden conglomerates and bet its future on mining brand libraries rather than developing new stories, with Prada 2 representing the model performing exactly as designed. The original 2021 Mortal Kombat launched simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max during the pandemic height, limiting its commercial potential, while the sequel has been built with a proper theatrical run in mind. Mortal Kombat II carries an $80 million budget, a step up from the 2021 original's $55 million, contrasting sharply with that film's $84 million worldwide gross. This Mother's Day weekend is shaping up as a "perfect storm" of female-focused films, with Billie Eilish (81% female), The Sheep Detectives (56% female), and The Devil Wears Prada 2 (76% female) all in theaters alongside Michael. The determining factor for this weekend's box office victor appears to be Mother's Day Sunday traffic. Box office sources estimate Devil Wears Prada 2 will see a 10-15% spike on Sunday over Saturday, with Sheep Detectives potentially as high as +30%. Rivals and exhibitors believe weekend ticket sales for both films could end up closer to $50 million, depending on word-of-mouth for Mortal Kombat II and Mother's Day turnout for The Devil Wears Prada 2.

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Mortal Kombat II and Devil Wears Prada 2 battle for Mother's Day weekend box office lead

Mortal Kombat II and The Devil Wears Prada 2 battle for Mother's Day weekend #1, with $40-42M each and Sunday deciding the winner.

May 10, 2026
What's Going On

New Line's Mortal Kombat II and 20th Century Studios' The Devil Wears Prada 2 are locked in a close race for the #1 box office position, each projecting $40M-$42M as of Saturday morning, with Mother's Day Sunday providing the ultimate swing factor to determine the winner. The Mortal Kombat sequel, fueled by males, topped Friday with an opening-day gross of $17 million, while The Devil Wears Prada 2 came in second Friday with $9.8 million and is projected to add about $41 million by Sunday. Mortal Kombat II received a B CinemaScore, lower than the previous 2021's installment's B+, though Screen Engine/Comscore's PostTrak definite recommend is quite high at 72%. The Devil Wears Prada 2 is performing as one of the rare legacy sequels that genuinely outperforms the original at every turn, having surpassed the original 2006 film's entire worldwide lifetime earnings of $326.5 million in just nine days.

✓ Common Ground
There is broad industry consensus that this Mother's Day weekend demonstrates the value of female-skewing films, with observers suggesting studios should make more female-focused movies for this holiday.
Industry analysts agree the late spring and early summer box office has been strong across multiple releases.
Both Mortal Kombat II and The Devil Wears Prada 2 hover in the 77 percent range in regard to their Rotten Tomatoes critics' scores.
Objective Deep Dive

The Devil Wears Prada 2's success does not stem from its status as a sequel to a known title, but rather from a unique convergence of conditions that rarely assemble simultaneously. The IP-maximization era, dated to 2008 when Marvel Studios released Iron Man, has led the industry to increasingly treat original films as risky while preexisting brands are treated as hedges against risk. In 2025, nine of the top ten highest-grossing films were sequels, remakes or franchise installments, and in 2024, not a single original film cracked the domestic top ten. The IP-maximization model is the operating logic of an industry that has consolidated into debt-laden conglomerates and bet its future on mining brand libraries rather than developing new stories, with Prada 2 representing the model performing exactly as designed.

The original 2021 Mortal Kombat launched simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max during the pandemic height, limiting its commercial potential, while the sequel has been built with a proper theatrical run in mind. Mortal Kombat II carries an $80 million budget, a step up from the 2021 original's $55 million, contrasting sharply with that film's $84 million worldwide gross. This Mother's Day weekend is shaping up as a "perfect storm" of female-focused films, with Billie Eilish (81% female), The Sheep Detectives (56% female), and The Devil Wears Prada 2 (76% female) all in theaters alongside Michael.

The determining factor for this weekend's box office victor appears to be Mother's Day Sunday traffic. Box office sources estimate Devil Wears Prada 2 will see a 10-15% spike on Sunday over Saturday, with Sheep Detectives potentially as high as +30%. Rivals and exhibitors believe weekend ticket sales for both films could end up closer to $50 million, depending on word-of-mouth for Mortal Kombat II and Mother's Day turnout for The Devil Wears Prada 2.