---
name: "David Frankel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-frankel"
fi1m_id: "david-frankel"
imdb_id: "nm0291205"
tmdb_id: 5065
wikidata_id: "Q934964"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "2 April 1959"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-13T21:40:42.869217+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Frankel

## Identity

David Frankel

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/david-frankel
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** david-frankel
- **IMDb ID:** nm0291205
- **TMDB ID:** 5065
- **Wikidata ID:** Q934964
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frankel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934964, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0291205/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5065

Director. Born 2 April 1959 in New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 2 April 1959, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 2001–present
- **Also known as:** 데이빗 프랭클
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Adam Davidson](https://film.one/person/adam-davidson.md), [Aline Brosh McKenna](https://film.one/person/aline-brosh-mckenna.md), [Anne Hathaway](https://film.one/person/anne-hathaway.md), [David Nutter](https://film.one/person/david-nutter.md), [Emily Blunt](https://film.one/person/emily-blunt.md), [Julian Farino](https://film.one/person/julian-farino.md), [Meryl Streep](https://film.one/person/meryl-streep.md), [Mikael Salomon](https://film.one/person/mikael-salomon.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 76 (4), 2020s 64 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 72 to 73 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Comedy 3, War & Politics 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,018m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frankel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q934964, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0291205/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5065

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Band of Brothers*](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md) (89), [*Rome*](https://film.one/tv/rome.md) (82), [*Entourage*](https://film.one/tv/entourage.md) (63)
- **Disney+:** [*The Devil Wears Prada*](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada.md) (70), [*The Devil Wears Prada 2*](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada-2.md) (64)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on David Frankel

> David Frankel is good with actors and knows the value of an ensemble. We enjoy the company he keeps on screen, but his reluctance to upset anyone can leave a film with too little to say.

In *The Devil Wears Prada 2* (2026), Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs is back opposite Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly, and much of the pleasure lies in that familiar pairing. Frankel is a capable director of ensembles, good at making their company agreeable and sometimes too content to stop there. The reunion is amiable and well acted. It also gives its returning cast rather less to do, leaving the actors to sustain our interest when the writing does not.

After writing and producing for television, he found his defining feature breakthrough with *The Devil Wears Prada* (2006). The studio films that followed included *Marley & Me* (2008) and the relationship comedy-drama *Hope Springs* (2012), while television remained part of his work. His collaborative, actor-led rehearsals offer a practical explanation for the strong performances. Trusting the cast is sensible, though their skill can make a weak script pleasant enough to leave unchallenged.

*Band of Brothers* (2001), for which he directed two episodes, is a useful reminder that his work extends beyond amiable comedy. We rate the series highly for its patient attention to the men of Easy Company and its ensemble, anchored by Damian Lewis. The occasional overstatement in the action and music is the reservation. It would be careless to give Frankel all the credit, or all the blame, for the whole series, but this shared work belongs alongside the features.

The difficulty is clearest in his return to fashion with writer Aline Brosh McKenna. *The Devil Wears Prada 2* brings Andy and Miranda together amid the decline of print magazines, artificial intelligence and the threat of scandal. We enjoyed their reunion because Hathaway and Streep give the familiar pairing an ease the thin material needs. But Frankel and McKenna are reluctant to upset anyone, and the film has little to add about the magazine business it depicts.

Choose the Prada sequel for its actors rather than its observations about publishing. There is no need to mistake an undemanding evening for a wasted one. We would like Frankel’s next script to give his cast something more uncomfortable to work with.

## Biography

David Frankel is an American film and television director. Born on 2 April 1959 in New York City, he graduated from Harvard University. He began his career directing short films and television episodes.

Frankel is known for directing the feature films *The Devil Wears Prada* (2006) and its sequel *The Devil Wears Prada 2* (2026), *Marley & Me* (2008), *Hope Springs* (2012) and *Jerry & Marge Go Large* (2022). On television he directed episodes of the miniseries *Band of Brothers* (2001) and the series *Manifest* (2018) and *Inventing Anna* (2022).

He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for *Dear Diary* (1996) and a Primetime Emmy Award for directing an episode of *Band of Brothers*.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *The Devil Wears Prada 2* (2026), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada-2.md)
- *The Devil Wears Prada* (2006), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada.md)
- *Entourage* (2004), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/entourage.md)
- *Band of Brothers* (2001), Fi1m 89, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md)

### Wrote (1)

- *Rome* (2005), Fi1m 82, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)

## Complete filmography (33)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Little, Big, and Far* (2026), Executive Producer
- *The Devil Wears Prada 2* (2026), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada-2.md)
- *The Irrational* (2023), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Who Invited Charlie?* (2023), Executive Producer
- *Jerry & Marge Go Large* (2022), Director
- *Inventing Anna* (2022), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Baker and the Beauty* (2020), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Morning Show* (2019), series, Director
- *Manifest* (2018), series, Director
- *Collateral Beauty* (2016), Director
- *Chronically Metropolitan* (2016), Executive Producer
- *One Chance* (2013), Director
- *Hope Springs* (2012), Director
- *The Big Year* (2011), Director
- *Marley & Me* (2008), Director
- *Footskating 101* (2007), Executive Producer
- *The Devil Wears Prada* (2006), Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-devil-wears-prada.md)
- *Rome* (2005), series, Writer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)
- *Entourage* (2004), series, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/entourage.md)
- *The Pennsylvania Miners' Story* (2002), Director
- *Band of Brothers* (2001), series, Director — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md)
- *Grapevine* (2000), series, Creator
- *Sex and the City* (1998), series, Director
- *From the Earth to the Moon* (1998), series, Director
- *Dear Diary* (1996), Director, Writer
- *Miami Rhapsody* (1995), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Grapevine* (1992), series, Creator
- *Nervous Ticks* (1992), Writer
- *Teech* (1991), series, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Doctor Doctor* (1989), series, Director
- *The Ellen Burstyn Show* (1986), series, Creator
- *Cold Feet* (1984), Unit Production Manager
- *Pedro Pan*, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 08: (L-R) Carla Gugino, Jeremy Piven, David Frankel, and Sarah Jessica Parker arrive at Miami Rhapsody 30th Anniversary Celebration present (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-35ae456cae28.jpg) MIAMI, FL - FEBRUARY 08: (L-R) Carla Gugino, Jeremy Piven, David Frankel, and Sarah Jessica Parker arrive at Miami Rhapsody 30th Anniversary Celebration present (2013) — MiamiFilmFestival, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Cast_at_Miami_Rhapsody_30th_Anniversary_Celebration.jpg/1280px-Cast_at_Miami_Rhapsody_30th_Anniversary_Celebration.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![David Frankel](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-2ab57a1c4cc0.jpg) David Frankel — Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/David_Frankel%2C_director_of_hit_films_THE_DEVIL_WEARS_PRADA_and_MARLEY_%26_ME.jpg/1280px-David_Frankel%2C_director_of_hit_films_THE_DEVIL_WEARS_PRADA_and_MARLEY_%26_ME.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![<a href="https://cfccreates.com/film" rel="nofollow">cfccreates.com/film</a> David Frankel (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-019cfc1934f1.jpg) <a href="https://cfccreates.com/film" rel="nofollow">cfccreates.com/film</a> David Frankel (2011) — Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/David_Frankel_%288190397141%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Director David Frankel (director/producer, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, MARLEY & ME) gave a public masterclass as part of his involvement with the 2011 Edition of](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-66f30426db12.jpg) Director David Frankel (director/producer, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, MARLEY & ME) gave a public masterclass as part of his involvement with the 2011 Edition of — Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/David_Frankel_Masterclass_%286350678401%29.jpg/1280px-David_Frankel_Masterclass_%286350678401%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![David Frankel](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-16e3762fcfa5.jpg) David Frankel — Image via TMDB
- ![David Frankel](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-14b61ef704a4.jpg) David Frankel — Image via TMDB
- ![Director David Frankel (director/producer, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, MARLEY & ME) gave a public masterclass as part of his involvement with the 2011 Edition of](https://film.one/media/person/6803/gallery-4c2e0eafb38e.jpg) Director David Frankel (director/producer, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, MARLEY & ME) gave a public masterclass as part of his involvement with the 2011 Edition of — Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/David_Frankel_Masterclass_%286350678401%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1997: Best Live Action Short Film (won), for *Dear Diary*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2002: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *Band of Brothers*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-frankel