This Week in Theaters and Streaming: Miranda Priestly Returns and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Sets Netflix on Fire
Big week. Bigger than I expected, honestly. The Devil Wears Prada 2 finally hits theaters Friday, Man on Fire drops on Netflix Thursday, and there's an animated Animal Farm sneaking into multiplexes too. Here's what's worth your time between April 27 and May 3.
Big week. Bigger than I expected, honestly.
We've got a 20-years-later sequel that the internet has been screaming about, a seven-episode Netflix revenge series with one of the most quietly intense actors working today, and an A24-adjacent animated Orwell adaptation crashing the same Friday. And on the genre side, a horror VOD release for anyone who already burned through this week's must-watches.
Between April 27 and May 3 — here's what's worth your time and where to watch it.
🎬 The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Theatrical — Fri May 1)
Anticipation: 9/10
Twenty years. That's how long we've been waiting. The Devil Wears Prada 2 hits US theaters on Friday, May 1, courtesy of 20th Century Studios, and 20th Century gets the headline release of the spring.
David Frankel is back in the director's chair. Aline Brosh McKenna wrote it. And the original four — Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci — are all reprising their roles. Add Justin Theroux and Kenneth Branagh as the new faces, and you have one of those rare legacy sequels that didn't lose its core cast to scheduling conflicts or feuds.
The NYC premiere already happened on April 20, so this is no longer a question of if it's coming — it's a question of how loud the opening weekend gets. Between the original's rabid streaming afterlife and a built-in fashion-and-corporate-satire audience that aged 20 years right alongside it, this one has a real shot at being a generational opener for adult women — the demographic studios keep saying they've abandoned and then keep being surprised by.
Where to watch: US theaters, May 1.
🔥 Man on Fire (Netflix — Thu Apr 30)
Anticipation: 8/10
The one I'm probably most curious about. Man on Fire drops all seven episodes on Netflix on Thursday, April 30, with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stepping into the ex-mercenary lead.
This is the third major adaptation of A. J. Quinnell's 1980 novel — there was the 1987 Scott Glenn version most people forgot about, and then the 2004 Tony Scott film with Denzel Washington that everyone remembers. Going to series instead of another two-hour film is the right call here. Quinnell's book has more book to it than fits in a feature, and seven episodes gives Kyle Killen (showrunner, EP) the runway to actually build the slow-burn before the explosion.
Abdul-Mateen II is the casting that sells me. Watchmen, Candyman, The Matrix Resurrections — the man simmers. He's been waiting for a lead role with this much weight, and Creasy is one of those characters that lives or dies on whether the lead can carry the silence between the action.
No theatrical fight to win, no opening-weekend math. Just press play Thursday night.
Where to watch: Netflix.
🐷 Animal Farm (Theatrical — Fri May 1)
Anticipation: 7/10
Filing this one under "things I did not have on my 2026 bingo card." Animal Farm, directed by Andy Serkis and written by Nicholas Stoller, opens in US theaters via Angel Studios on Friday, May 1 — yes, the same day as Prada 2.
The voice cast is the headline. Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Steve Buscemi, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, and Iman Vellani. That's not a voice cast, that's a SAG nominees list.
Serkis has been chasing this project for years and the version that finally came together is animated, with a coming-of-age framing built around a new piglet character named Lucky. World-premiered at Annecy in June 2025 and played the BFI London Film Festival in October — so this isn't a cold drop, the festival circuit liked it. Whether it can carve out theatrical air on the weekend Miranda Priestly returns is another question entirely. Counter-programming for the family-and-cinephile crowd, basically.
Where to watch: US theaters, May 1.
🔪 The Step Daddy (VOD/Digital — Tue Apr 28)
Anticipation: 5/10
Quick mention because it's hitting tomorrow. The Step Daddy — Thomas J. Churchill directing, Vincent M. Ward starring as a charming-stepfather-turned-serial-killer — arrives on digital and VOD Tuesday, April 28. Worth flagging that this is a digital release, not a theatrical one (a few outlets have been mislabeling it).
Ward played Oscar on The Walking Dead and has been steady on the indie horror circuit. If you've cleared the rest of this week's queue and want something pulpy on a Tuesday night, this is the slot it's filling. Not the headline of the week, but it's there.
Where to watch: Digital / VOD.
My Pick of the Week
It depends on what you want.
If you want the moment — Friday night, theater, big audience, shared experience — go Devil Wears Prada 2. This is the kind of movie that's better with a packed house.
If you want something that'll stick with you for weeks — start Man on Fire Thursday and pace yourself. Revenge stories with this much episode count usually live or die on the back third.
And if you want the curveball — Animal Farm on a matinee Saturday, before the Prada crowd takes over, is the kind of weird-but-loaded choice that makes a Saturday afternoon memorable.
Me? I'm doing all three. Thursday night is Creasy. Friday night is Miranda. Saturday matinee is the pigs.
What's on your list this week?
— Alex
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