"The Devil Wears Prada" sequel set to begin filming next month

Production List is reporting that the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is scheduled to begin filming on November 30. This was an unexpected piece of news. With news of the project being in development only having coming out in early July, I figured the earliest we'd see it in production would be sometime next year. I guess the script was more fine-tuned than many of us probably thought it was. 

Assuming this is all true, we'll most certainly see this released sometime in the second half of next year. I had thought it would be kind of cool to have the two sequels released exactly twenty years apart, but if released next year, it'll be only nineteen. I suppose the timeline makes a little more sense coming off the recent news of Meryl starring in the TV adaptation of The Corrections. That might take up a fair amount of her time, and the filming of Prada this year would make for a more open schedule in '25. I do hope that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is only a working title. 

One thing that I'm a little curious about is the possibility of Meryl's involvement in the Joni Mitchell biopic. It was "rumored" in July also, with no confirmation from reputable sources. However, I recently checked and the official Joni Mitchell website included the post! I don't know if that actually means anything. Whoever is running that site might not actually be all that discerning about what's going on with a potential feature film about the singer's life. Regardless, that fact that it was on the site made me furrow my brow a bit in suspicion. In the original article, the rumored filming schedule was supposed to start sometime late summer or early fall. That would have to start essentially now for that to be true. I suppose it could still happen, but even if it does, Meryl would only be playing the older version of Joni, so it wouldn't be like she would have months of shooting to contend with. 

It's wild how all of a sudden with the Prada sequel, The Corrections, and possible involvement in Mamma Mia! 3 and a Joni Mitchell biopic (although I'm dubious about this last one), Meryl seems super busy with projects. The landscape seemed pretty barren only a  few weeks ago. 

Keep 'em comin'. 

Streep attached to star in limited series adaptation of "The Corrections"

Holy shit. I first saw this news early this morning from from Puck (run by Matt Belloni, former editor of The Hollywood Reporter and likely totally legit), and I was a little leery that no other news outlets were announcing it. Variety has now picked up on it and is also reporting that Streep is attached to star in a limited series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's 2001 National Book Award-winning novel, The Corrections for CBS studios. Franzen is apparently penning the script for the series. 

I had posted twelve years ago after a pilot for the novel adaptation with Dianne Wiest and Chris Cooper was not picked up by HBO for series that I though Meryl should star in a film version. I loved the novel and it is a brilliant story of a complicated American family. The book is long and totally makes the most sense to adapt it over the course of four to six hours versus a feature film. Meryl would paly Enid, the mother of three grown children who wants their Midwestern family to get together for one last Christmas. 

Evidently the project is going to be shopped to distributors/streaming services soon. I imagine it won't start filming until sometime next year, with a likely release of 2026? If the Devil Wears Prada sequel happens I would expect that to also be for 2026. Maybe they're closer to production for The Corrections than we realize, and an early 2025 shooting schedule could result in a late 2025 release. Regardless, if this turns out to be legit and eventually happens, it's exactly the time of limited series I would love to see Meryl do! An adaptation with original characters in a beloved American tale. 

So excited to see where this leads!

Meryl Streep to reportedly star in series adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s ‘THE CORRECTIONS.’

It revolves around the troubles of a Midwestern couple and their adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-20th century to one last Christmas together.

(https://t.co/fMsanSCD8l) pic.twitter.com/eXVsh7TSP8

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 27, 2024

Marvel for Meryl?

Will Meryl be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Casting director Sarah Halley Finn was asked at the Agatha All Around premiere earlier this week whom she'd like to cast in a Marvel movie. She pretty emphatically announced Meryl. 

Sarah Halley Finn says Meryl Streep can play "anything she wants" in Marvel. Has she been approached? "Maybe." But there hasn't been "the right role," yet. #AgathaAllAlong https://t.co/fovgx9Ba68 pic.twitter.com/E5QBwgcU7s

— Variety (@Variety) September 17, 2024

This isn't the first time Meryl has been rumored to have been approached or to be in talks for a role in a Marvel movie. But this sounds a little more specific and intentional, in that I'm guessing Meryl (through her people or whatever) has been contacted to see if she'd be interested in a Marvel project. And I'm guessing Meryl may have responded with something like "if the right role were to come along." 

For real though, I'm sure it'll come as no secret that I'd be totally fine with Meryl setting her sights elsewhere. The only possible projects that we know about currently are both Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! sequels. To think that something as painfully mainstream as a superhero movie would be taking up her time is maddening to me. Yes, yes, it's possible there could be a fascinating role in store, and if it opened her to a new legion of fans, fine. But I'm thirsty for something more Meryl-y. 

I'm not holding my breath that this will happen anytime soon. 

Predicting the Emmys

The Primetime Emmys are tomorrow night, and Meryl is of course nominated for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for work in season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. I saw a pic of Meryl's face in a seating chart for the show, so it appears that she'll be attending! I wonder if we'll see her hand-in-hand with co-star Martin Short. 

I had the chance to watch the Robin Roberts Emmy special on ABC and it was interesting to hear Meryl talk about the sort of genesis of her joining the show. She basically shared that she was getting sort of down due to world events and needed to experience something happy. It makes me wonder if it's possible that she held back on participating in other projects that may have been 'heavier' because she just wasn't in a good frame of mind. Places, Please (or The Great Lillian Hall as it came to be) was not exactly a ball of laughs, for example. I know I've been clear about how ambivalent I am about Meryl possibly being sequels for The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia!. But if it provides her a sort of reset to be able to possibly dig into things a bit more meaty, then I'm all for it. 

To the Emmys. Meryl has a decent shot to take this. But the odds are on Hannah Einbinder for Hacks. I wouldn't be bummed at all if she took the trophy, because I'm a huge fan of that show. Only thing that bugs me is that she's totally not supporting. She and Jean Smart are absolutely co-leads. But that's how things go these days when there are two people of the same gender too close to cancelling each other out in the same category. 

Other categories I'm interested in seeing are for Limited Series (Baby Reindeer is the front-runner and I really enjoyed the show), and how The Bear does. I love that show, but it's complete category fraud, in my opinion that it's in comedy. Shogun is going to win in a lot of top categories from drama. I'm also kind of pulling for Juno Temple in Fargo and Andrew Scott in Ripley. 

The show airs at 7 p.m. central time on ABC Sunday night. I'll leave y'all with this little nugget of Carol Burnett getting a little message from Meryl. 

Episode 1 of "Only Murders in the Building"--season 4

She's back! The first episode of the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building premiered on Hulu last night, and we got to see a bit of Meryl. My expectation is that she's not going to feature very prominently this season, but it's nice that we got to see her at all. 

In her scene with Martin Short (could there be more rumors about them as a real-life couple, btw?), I couldn't help but notice how great she looked (sort of West Coast-ified). Her character, Loretta, has moved to Los Angeles to do a silly TV show, and the gang is out there to be pitched the idea of their podcast being turned into a major motion picture. The scene between Streep and Short is cute, but I get the sense that there may not really be much more of a character arc that they're going to explore with Loretta, not that she's finally got her big break. Molly Shannon's character happened to stand out to me as particularly funny and well-played. 

Regardless, like I said, I wasn't expecting Meryl to be in this season a lot. But who knows? I'm still looking forward to more info on developments for the Devil Wears Prada sequel. The farther out we go from the news of the potential Joni Mitchell biopic, the more it seems like it may be mostly made up, or at least extremely obliquely a possibility. I certainly wouldn't mind news of something more concrete for her to do in the likely year she has before Prada films (assuming it does indeed get off the ground). And then there's always the Emmys, which are coming up on September 15. Meryl is of course nominated for her supporting performance in season 3 of Only Murders.

Until then, I'll enjoy the bits we get of her in this latest season. I'll leave you with a snippet where she talks about the appeal of her participation in the show, and of portraying this character.

Full trailer for season 4 of "Only Murders in the Building"

 Hulu has unveiled a full trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Only Murders in the Building.

I had sort of forgotten that several of the new faces (Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy) are actually playing themselves, as they will portray members of the show in a film version of the main characters' podcast. As we know, there are many new cast members in this season. The trailer was fine, nothing particularly funny that I found, mostly pretty low-brow humor. But it's cute and fun and "feel-good." 

Meryl is in about four seconds of the trailer, so I don't expect to see her much this season. But I'll still watch. 

The new season debuts on August 27!

Streep Center for the Performing Arts opens on 13th anniversary of Word on the Streep!

I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but the SAG-AFTRA Foundation has officially opened its Meryl Streep Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, and it just happens to be on the 13th anniversary of Word on the Streep. It's a nice commemoration. As a "most philanthropic" donor in Foundation's history, Meryl was chosen for the honor of having it named after her. 

As I like to do every year, a big thank-you to any and all readers of this blog. I realize that the posts have been much fewer and farther between over this past year. I'm mostly posting when there's actual news, doing fewer speculative projects. Not that I'll never post some "what ifs" ever again, but I wanted to take a bit of a break from it. With Meryl having been in so few projects in the past couple years, there's obviously been less to say (at least what I haven't already said in the thirteen years since I started this blog)! But we're sure to have plenty to talk about as things (hopefully) get underway with the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, and there's always the chance that she'll sneak in a new project before then. Looking forward to season 4 of Only Murders in the Building on August 27!

Cheers to you all!