Devil Wears Prada 2 Hires Human Artist Over AI for Film Meme
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- Alexis Franklin disclosed on Instagram and X that she hand-painted the AI-style image of Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly as a fast-food worker with the caption "Would you like some lies with that?" for 'The Devil Wears Prada 2,' sharing a time-lapse of her process.
- Director David Frankel specifically requested Franklin to create the gag, which appears in the film's opening sequence involving Runway Magazine's editorial crisis, and Franklin called the experience "nothing but fun."
- Fan reaction on social media praised the studio's choice, with one commenter saying "people do crave real art and not AI slop" and another lamenting that "the bar is truly in hell" when hiring a human artist is treated as a novelty.
- Franklin noted on X that she posted the story after being "flooded with comments of relief," adding that companies "should get their flowers when they hire an artist."
- 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' opened to $77 million domestically and $156.6 million internationally, totaling $233.6 million globally in its first weekend.
- The sequel reunites Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, alongside Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman reprising roles from the 2006 original.
Why it matters: A major studio sequel generating positive buzz for simply choosing a human painter over AI tools underscores how low the industry benchmark has fallen on creative labor — and gives production companies a small, concrete win amid ongoing backlash against AI in filmmaking.
