The Devil’s in the Box Office: Prada 2 Shocks Hollywood (Ep. 357)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jim Hill and Drew Taylor return with a packed episode that jumps from a galaxy far, far away to the runways of a surprise box office hit. They break down the evolving strategy behind Disney’s theatrical releases, spotlight a full-circle Star Wars character comeback, and dig into the unexpected success of a long-awaited sequel. Along the way, they explore new animation experiments, streaming debuts, and what’s next for both studios and theaters as summer heats up. HIGHLIGHTS • “The Devil Wore Prada 2” stuns with a $236 million global opening weekend, far exceeding expectations • Strong ongoing demand suggests the sequel has real staying power beyond its debut • Disney’s $80 million marketing push helps turn the film into a true theatrical event • “The Mandalorian & Grogu” positions itself as a lower-risk, high-upside Star Wars release • Rotta the Hutt returns in a full-circle moment from Dave Filoni’s earliest Star Wars work • “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord” continues expanding the Disney+ storytelling universe • Disney experiments with ASL storytelling via “Songs in Sign Language” featuring Encanto, Frozen 2, and Moana 2 • Pixar’s “Hoppers” crosses $375 million globally and shows strong post-theatrical life on digital • Annecy 2026 lineup teases the next wave of global animation talent and projects HOSTS • Jim Hill (@JimHillMedia) – jimhillmedia.com • Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) – drewtaylor.work FOLLOW • Facebook: @JimHillMediaNews • YouTube: @jimhillmedia • TikTok: @jimhillmedia • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at https://www.patreon.com/jimhillmedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - https://strongmindedagency.com SPONSOR This episode is brought to you by UnlockedMagic.com – your go-to source for great deals on Disney and Universal theme park tickets. Whether you’re planning ahead or finally ready to book that 2026 trip, their team helps you save money and skip the stress so you can focus on the fun. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. https://www.jimhillmedia.com/sponsor/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to fine-tuning with Drew Taylor.
0:03.0	You're one-stop shop when it comes to animation news and commentary.
0:06.6	I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill and Mr. Taylor,
0:10.1	whose writings on the industry you can regularly read over on the rap
0:14.6	and whose musings on the Mission of Possible movies you can still listen to on Light the Fuse,
0:20.5	the official Mission Impossible podcast.
0:23.4	He and I are recording this week's show on the Sunday, May 3rd, 2006, and we really missed
0:29.7	you last week. Drew, you were up at the San Luis Obispo. I'm sorry, you know, I meant to, I meant to do
0:36.6	something, send in a voice note, something, but I was so
0:39.7	strapped for time. I was at a media event at Disneyland on Wednesday and Thursday, and then
0:47.2	Thursday night I drove to San Luis Obispo for the San Luis Obispo Film Festival. And then I was there until, I think my
0:56.5	last thing was on Sunday at about 7 o'clock, got in the car, drove home, and that was it. That was my
1:04.6	entire week last week. So I apologize. I know the fans were just, you know, they were dying for me.
1:10.9	They were. They were. You know, but on the other hand, please tell the nice folks who you got to interview while you were up there.
1:19.3	So I did two kind of, you know, 45 minute long kind of career retrospective interviews with Haley Joel Osment, who has started a number of direct-to-video
1:30.5	Disney sequels as well as the country bear jamboree movie, the country bears, which you
1:37.1	were on set for, Jim, I know.
1:38.5	I was, you know, there's one shot in that film when you can see my surprisingly large forehead.
1:47.0	But that's it.
1:47.8	So check it out.
1:48.8	Everybody that's revisiting the country bear.
1:50.9	So I did one with him, and then I did one with Britt Lauer from Severance, who had a new movie playing.
	...

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