It’s officially “The Devil Wears Prada” craze. Last night, April 29, the sequel to the beloved cult starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci arrived in theaters and, despite it being a working Wednesday, cinemas recorded a peak in sales with 2,707,615 euros at the box office and 341,356 admissions. A breath of fresh air for a sector constantly struggling between streaming platforms and the ever-present shadow of piracy.

But what is striking, in addition to the full room that we hope will be repeated on this long May Day long weekend, is the absurd chase for dedicated gadgets. What are we talking about? If you are a fan of the first hour, you already know it: the piece de resistance is the bag-shaped popcorn bucket, already renamed “Butter Birkin” due to its resemblance to the iconic Hermès bag. To keep her company, the bright red plastic cup, Runway magazine with Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) on the cover and even the exclusive flyers distributed in The Space cinemas.

These products, sold only in selected rooms, instantly became objects of desire for the “mass”, just as happens with limited editions of high fashion. A phenomenon which, let’s face it, Miranda Priestly would not appreciate at all, she would curl her upper lip and whisper contemptuously to collectors: “You don’t have the slightest idea of ​​style and fashion sense”. Yet, the gadgets sold out in cinema bars within minutes, ending up straight on reselling sites at inflated prices.

The wild west on Vinted

Speculation has started on Vinted, also because many have bought – or have grabbed – these objects solely and exclusively to resell them. And so the popcorn bag, which already started from a decidedly high list price of 79.90 euros, is also resold for 150 euros. The glass costs almost 50 euros, and if sold in pair with the Butter bag it can even reach 200 euros. While shoe-shaped key rings reach 30 euros. Even the small freebies that cinemas give away based on the day you buy the ticket (tote bags, stickers with iconic phrases from the first film) are on sale for between 8 and 20 euros (and remember, they were given for free). Even the magazine, which was given as a gift, is resold for over 100 euros.

The dedicated menus fluctuate between 35 and 80 euros, figures that are jarring when compared with abroad: in the USA, the same “Butter Birkin” is sold in some cinemas for around 39 dollars (around 33 euros). On social media the public is divided: there are those who have not been able to resist the memory of the film and those who consider it crazy to spend certain amounts of money on a plastic object. Meanwhile, someone is ironic by using the historic cries of Wanna Marchi – too well known and bad to be repeated – to reiterate that, perhaps, spending 80 euros on a popcorn holder is truly “absurd”. Also because, after all, the film itself – without giving away spoilers – tells exactly this: how even the most iconic symbols can risk turning into empty objects, perfect to show off but increasingly distant from their original meaning.

Is “The Devil Wears Prada 2” a film worthy of its predecessor? Yes, if we know how to grasp its meanings

@vincenzomancinema You’ve been asking me for weeks ⤵️ Finally all the gadgets from #IlDiavoloVestePrada2 👠 The popcorn bag is already booked 🍿 #bucketbag #thedevilwearsprada2 ♬ original audio – Vincenzo Mancini | Cinema 🍿