The Devil Wears Prada 2 is now creating its buzz across the world, and it is more than a return to the realm of style and fashion. After having confirmed the fact that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is set to continue the franchise of The Devil Wears Prada, this sequel has been surrounded by rumors and speculation concerning the cast, the plot and of course what is expected by the fans!
However, just as The Devil Wears Prada 2 was starting to make waves, there was a piece of unexpected information: Conrad Ricamora had been completely removed from the scene! As you can obviously expect, this has led to discussions as to whether or not it was this very scene that was responsible for the problem and whether something else in The Devil Wears Prada 2 caused this trouble!
As we hear, through interviews and reports, it appears that it has become quite clear that this particular movie was being molded more by the plot rather than guesswork and that the changes that were implemented into the movie itself are evidence of the fact that even a shot and completed huge film can continue to develop.
Conrad Ricamora and The Devil Wears Prada 2
Conrad Ricamora was shot as Andy Sachs’ roommate. He had been selected to perform a short cameo part in the storyline after seeing how brilliant it looked playing this young character. This itself was an indication that the second part of The Devil Wears Prada will have Andy move on to another stage of her life where she will explore new areas beyond the one thing that she had known for so long- the world of the office!
Nevertheless, this part did not do very well in the test screenings and as a result, this scene was removed from The Devil Wears Prada 2.
What exactly caused the scene to be cut out?
The ultimate reason that it was removed from the film was that Conrad Ricamora’s scene was just too much of a subplot and didn’t work well with the other scenes.
As per an interview conducted on ANC 24/7, Conrad said,
“I found out that my role in that movie was cut out because I played Anne Hathaway’s roommate and they were like ‘oh this doesn’t that 20 years later after Devil Wears Prada’ when they did test screenings they the audience was like ‘it doesn’t make sense that that she…'”
He added,
“so yeah so but it’s that’s makes sense to I’m like as a performer I’m here to serve the story and if that story doesn’t make sense then I need to take my my character needs to be taken out of it.”
The sub-plot and his storyline itself did not really connect with the audience because it felt out of place in the main story Andy was involved in.
How the reception of audiences affected The Devil Wears Prada 2
The filming process is one that depends a lot on test screenings and audience response meetings. Every film, even one as hotly awaited as The Devil Wears Prada 2, is subject to a range of different test screenings in order to try and test how the audience reacts to certain scenes and plots.
Conrad Ricamora’s exclusion is not only just the one known reason for test audiences influencing the filmmaking of this sequel; there are other scenes that underwent adjustments, such as the possible cameos from the character Sydney Sweeney as herself. This demonstrates that The Devil Wears Prada 2 is quite extensively edited in post-production to develop the movie.
What does this mean for Andy’s Storyline?
By excluding elements that did not perform well in test screenings and did not help develop the main plot of the story, it shows how the sequel can proceed with maintaining Andy Sachs’s storyline without damaging her character. Andy’s character development throughout The Devil Wears Prada was successful and Andy Sachs must continue on her journey compellingly throughout this movie.
Moreover, added features in a sequel must always fit into the plot, so the fact that Andy Sachs’s roommate role had to be cut means that the director was able to listen to audience feedback to ensure Andy Sachs’s storyline remained true to her character.
There was no controversy relating to the actual segment shot and so audiences should understand that it was merely a slight tweak to enhance the movie and plot overall.
No controversy behind the scene cut
Although this matter caused quite a lot of discussion between The Devil Wears Prada fans, the matter itself wasn’t as serious as initially thought; the matter of Conrad’s scene being cut, even despite his good work, did not involve anything scandalous or outrageous.
In fact, it’s understood that directors have to make tough choices regarding films. As the anticipation for this sequel is immense and for very good reasons, it is believed that this change will improve the overall quality of the film.
What the post-production stage did to the film: The Devil Wears Prada 2
Although the test screenings had a huge impact on the film, it was not final until it reached editing during post-production, which is when all of the creative forces sit down together with editors and re-work the story with suggestions and with their own ideas.
This was also where The Devil Wears Prada 2 was moulded into what it finally is. Scenes not helping the storyline, or if they had been shot but were not effective enough, were cut out.
This shows that a film is not “completed” once filming has finished. This is something that is clearly demonstrated through The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Conrad Ricamora was removed from the movie as the audience believed that his character, as Andy Sachs’s roommate, was not suitable for her at that point in her life and consequently did not complement her character as well.
There were no other issues concerning his contribution, other than the fact that this was just one of many adjustments to enhance the movie and its storyline based on audience response.
Also read: The Devil Wears Prada 2: Everything we know so far about the sequel
Edited by Sohini Biswas