Looking ahead in 2026

Happy New Year, everyone! I thought I'd pause my watching of Heated Rivalry on a loop for a few minutes to prognosticate a bit on what we might expect to see from Meryl in 2026. 

Let's do a brief recap. The only real thing we've seen from her in four years is a supporting role on Hulu's Only Murders in the Building. She did Emmy and Globe nominations for the first season of it she was in (and won a Critics' Choice Award), but other than that, it has been pretty barren for us Streepers. That all changed last summer when she began shooting The Devil Wears Prada 2. The release date is May 1, so even if nothing else happens with other projects, we have that to look forward to exactly four months from today. 

But I want the other projects too! This fall it was announced that she would star alongside Sigourney Weaver in Joseph Cedar's Useful Idiots. Signs were pointing to an early 2026 shooting schedule, but we haven't had any updates since November. The role is a lead one and the film itself sounds interesting, so I really hope that comes together. Rumors have swirled for a while about Meryl portraying an older version of Joni Mitchell in a biopic directed by Cameron Crowe. Without confirming any casting, Crowe confirmed that he was expecting to begin shooting that film sometime in 2026. Meryl's name has been removed from the IMDb page for Greta Gerwig's Narnia film. I don't even think Meryl was officially confirmed for that anyway. And there's always The Corrections, which we've heard nothing about since it was announced as being optioned for (another try at) a limited series way back in September of 2024. 

I could see this year being as straightforward as Meryl filming a couple of episodes of Only Murders and then doing a bunch of press for Prada in the spring, to her doing all of the above projects within a ten-month period. If Useful Idiots gets off the ground, I feel like it wouldn't be a super long shoot. Same with the Mitchell biopic. If the Corrections happened, I would imagine that filming late fall or winter, considering it's meant to take place leading up to Christmastime. I hope all these projects happen. 

A key factor could be the box office success of Prada 2. If that movie does super well in theaters, which it definitely has the potential to do, that could open a lot of pockets for funding/greenlighting projects for Meryl. It might, for example, get a streaming service to sign on to The Corrections. And just like it did after the first Prada twenty years ago, where Meryl was "besieged with offers," to a likely somewhat lesser degree, Meryl might find herself with a bounty of opportunities, should she choose to say yes to them. This is what I really hope happens. 

No matter what additional projects she joins in the near or far future, we'll get to revisit an iconic character this spring. And if the movie is good enough, there's a narrative for Meryl to break he own record and score a 22nd Oscar nomination for reprising Miranda Priestly. 

Will Streep star in a 2025 Blacklist script?

Most years, when the Hollywood Blacklist of "most-liked" unproduced scripts comes out in December I scan the titles to see if any of the taglines suggest that they could star Meryl. Not many do, but usually I can find one that seems plausible, at least from the one to two sentence description. I can remember reading a version of Nyad a decade ago and imagining Meryl taking on that role. Then of course there was The Post, which only a few months after being on the Blacklist was in production with Meryl and released later that year. 

One script from this year's list caught my eye. I'll be honest I didn't read every single tagline because after the first twenty or so how good is the script really expected to be? But Joe Ferran's Leverage, with 23 mentions (which had it tied for seventh with number-one having 46 mentions) made me wonder if the main character referenced could be of an age suitable for Meryl:

After a high-profile murder threatens a multi-billion dollar hostile takeover, an embattled Wall Street titan emerges as the prime suspect and must win a war of perception in order to protect her empire at all costs.

Age (and gender of course) are two high hurdles these days for scripts that might suit Meryl. An "embattled Wall Street titan" doesn't exactly strike me as someone in their thirties or forties. I like the idea  of it maybe being a bit of a thriller or perhaps a bit political. I also like that the main character is a suspect for murder. It's an interesting twist that I don't think we've seen Meryl navigate. I wonder a little bit if it's a little too close to a Miranda Priestly-like ball busting role, but I imagine that it wouldn't have to be. 

I happened to notice that there were a handful of scripts that seemed to center on billionaires. None of them suggest a particularly flattering depiction of said characters, not that they're historically considered pillars of high moral standards. But I wonder if it's a bit of the sign of the times, with the current occupant of our White House and the "affordability" crisis looming so largely in people's minds, the stories in these scripts may showcase these ever-increasing large gaps in wealth among the American electorate. 

Speaking of corruption and stories of rich magnates, there was news yesterday of Sigourney Weaver being in talks to join Amazon's live-action Tomb Raider series. It's apparently got a filming start date of January 19. A commenter on Word on the Streep suggested that with Weaver joining this project that Useful Idiots is to be either postponed or scrapped completely. While that could certainly be the case, I'm not sure this news automatically indicates that 1) Weaver has dropped out of Useful Idiots, 2) she couldn't film both in a short period of time, particularly if one or both of her roles are relatively small, and 3) Useful Idiots is doomed. Weaver had said in a recent interview that she was filming the movie with Meryl in early 2026. The trades recently confirmed it, and it's got a solid director attached. It seemed so prime for production, but it's easy to remember how the news for The Great Lillian Hall (originally entitled Places, Please) was announced in February 2021, with an expected filming start slated for that summer. Of course Meryl never starred in that film, and it lay dormant for two years before Jessica Lange took over the role and it moved to TV for a spring '24 release. 

I sure hope it still happens! But now my pessimistic brain has me worried. What do you guys think?

Rian Johnson wants Streep in a future "Knives Out" movie

Director Rian Johnson was interviewed by IndieWire recently for the release of the third installment of his Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man. In it, he's asked whom he would like to secure if he were to make another. He shared, "There are so many great actors I’d like to work with. But, yes, if you’re reading this, Meryl Streep, I feel like you’d slot into a murder mystery very well."

The film series has been critically and commercially very successful. I've enjoyed both of the first two installments, the second being 2022's Glass Onion. I'm generally not a big fan of slotting Meryl into a franchise-like series of films, the way she was mentioned by a producer in recent years for a potential Marvel movie. I imagine the script would have to appeal to her, and/or an interesting character would have to be involved. It would not be a lead role, as that is firmly slotted for Daniel Craig in this series. 

Johnson mentioned that he's working on something completely separate from the Knives Out movies, which he described as "...a paranoid thriller. A ‘70s paranoid thriller, sort of. With a sci-fi twinge." I had thought at first that maybe he was interested in casting Meryl in this original story, but when he described Meryl as "slotting into a murder mystery very well," it seemed clear he thought about her for a Knives Out film, were another were to be made. That's not super interesting to me, but it would probably be a great box-office hit. 

director Rian Johnson

Teaser released for "The Devil Wears Prada 2"

A teaser trailer was released today for The Devil Wears Prada 2:

Not a lot to it, other than footage of Meryl's shoes to the opening of Madonna's "Vogue" in the background, which leans heavily on nostalgia as it featured in the first movie. 

I honestly thought the "took you look enough" was kind of corny. It almost seemed like this was just a spot for TV and not actual footage from the film. Is it? Maybe I'm dumb and it's supposed to be but it just seemed too put on. I imagine we'll have to have some of that in order to pay homage and give fans what they want is certain throwbacks from the original. No doubt Meryl and Anne looked amazing regardless. Excited for the full trailer. 

Sounds like this will be playing before showings of Wicked when it comes out next weekend. That'll get a lot of eyeballs on this teaser. Hard to imagine Prada 2 isn't going to open to absolutely massive numbers. Get that bank, Meryl. And with it, get offers for more projects!

The film opens in theaters May 1. 

Streep and Weaver confirmed for Joseph Cedar's "Useful Idiots"

Multiple prominent sources are now confirming that Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver will star in director Joseph Cedar's upcoming thriller, Useful Idiots. I may have to start easing up on my skepticism of World of Reel's scoops, although in the article it's stated that Cedar co-penned the script with 60 Minutes producer Shachar Bar-On. No mention anywhere of this having been written by Callie Khouri, so not sure if this is a completely different project. 

Weaver had recently confirmed her participation in this a couple weeks ago, but now we have very specific details on who's producing, and more importantly, what the plot details are:

The pic follows Diane Castle (Streep), a veteran journalist who covers the New York luxury property market. She’s disillusioned with writing puff pieces about the wealthy elite and regretful that she might not have lived up to her potential. When a record-breaking sale of a new penthouse hits her desk, Diane’s questions about the buyer’s identity lead to what could be the story of a lifetime. At its center is a mysterious oligarch whose influence stretches across Manhattan and beyond – protected by a network of fixers, enablers and a brilliant young strategist. Out of her depth, Diane digs deeper into the investigation, her determination to uncover the truth revealing a web of corruption and danger at the highest levels, ensnaring Diane, her family and all those around her.

Sounds juicy! A timely story that sounds smart, sophisticated, and yet seems to also deal with the main character's interpersonal relationships, which should allow Meryl to dissect the character more deeply. I'm also very interested to learn who will be cast as the oligarch and the "brilliant young strategist."

Interesting that none of the articles mention a likely date for filming to start. But Sigourney Weaver had confirmed in an interview that it was filming in "early 2026." The original news from World of Reel suggested a January start. If that's the case, I imagine a late 2026 release date would be feasible. 

Season 6 of "Only Murders in the Building" rumored to be heading to London

Multiple sources are reporting that if (more like when) Hulu's Only Murders in the Building is renewed for a sixth season that they may be heading to London for shooting. The season finale for season 5 is tomorrow, and it's expected that the location change may be hinted during the episode. 

This maybe throws a wrinkle into the shooting schedule if Meryl were to participate. I assume they'll bring her back, considering her character is married to one of the three leads. But I highly doubt that she'll be spending all winter/spring in London just to shoot, unless she plans to be there to be close to Martin Short. If she were to film scenes, I maintain that she could likely do that in a very short period of time, like a week. 

Regardless, Loretta's use in the show seems so superfluous to me at this point, that I hope Meryl is simply unavailable to participate in the next season, or that if she is, that her availability is very limited because she's committed to other projects. Yes, she'll do what she wants and she may love the experience of working on this show and with its actors blah blah blah, but as a fan, I'd like to see her move on (if OMITB were somehow to prevent her from joining other projects). 

Stay tuned for more news on this, as it'll likely be announced shortly after the conclusion of the current season. 

Sigourney Weaver confirms "Useful Idiots" to film in early 2026

In an interview for the December issue of Empire UK, Sigourney confirmed that she is indeed participating in Joseph Cedar's upcoming project Useful Idiots, with filming expected to get underway early next year. Initial reports had suggested a January timeline. From the article: 

Although, I am playing Meryl Streep's best friend in a movie that's going to shoot at the beginning of 2026 (Joseph Cedar's Useful Idiots). And that'll be fun! I mean, how rare is it to have two older women who are best friends, and have a history together? I'm delighted they're even having that in a movie, that's a shock. And so now, yeah. I'm ready finally to play the best-friend part. 

That's as solid confirmation as I think we need that this is moving forward. As previously reported, Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise) penned the screenplay. No official word on whether this is officially a feature film or a limited series, but my impression is that it's a film. Still no word on plot, and maybe I'm reading too much into this, but Weaver stating that she's playing Meryl's best friend suggests to me that Meryl may have more a lead role and Weaver supporting. I certainly hope Meryl features prominently regardless, and would love for it to be a co-lead scenario! With Khouri's writing, that latter would not surprise me at all. Hopefully when the trades announce this project more formally we'll get some sense of a plot. Knowing Cedar's filmography, I'm not anticipating a comedy.