While Avatar: Fire & Ash might be a billion-dollar+ earner globally and Marty Supreme is getting all the awards season praise, another film released during the holiday corridor is probably the most important success story. The Housemaid, directed by Paul Feig and starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar, has turned into a robust hit that should be a call to action for studios to stand behind mid-budgeted films in theaters rather than assuming streaming is the best option for that kind of film. Made for a slim $35 million, the Lionsgate release has grossed over $115 million domestically and $295 million worldwide.
In the process, it has become the highest-grossing film globally of Feig’s career, surpassing the $289.6 million take of Bridesmaids, and it turned around the box office fortunes for Sweeney. While she had garnered some negative feedback for a string of flops, albeit films that weren’t expected to light up the box office, and some unfavorable PR, the film is now the biggest hit for the actress as a leading lady, eclipsing the $220 million gross of Anyone but You. The Housemaid has become a perfect storm for everyone involved, and other studios should be paying attention to its success because it shows that audiences don’t always want to watch films like this at home.
Sometimes it just takes having an instinct that something is going to work. Todd Lieberman, a producer on the film via his Hidden Pictures banner, received Frieda McFadden’s book of the same name from his VP of development, Carly Elter, and believed that its twisty plot would be enticing for moviegoers. The book and film follow Millie Calloway (Sweeney), a woman with a troubled past who becomes the live-in housekeeper for Nina and Andrew Winchester (Seyfried and Sklenar), who have their very own dark secrets. Another studio was also trying to obtain the rights to McFadden’s book, but Lieberman turned to Lionsgate, a studio in need of a big hit after a few misses in a row, and they helped him snatch up the rights to the first novel as well as its sequel books, The Housemaid’s Secret and The Housemaid Is Watching.
By the time Rebecca Sonnenshine was brought in to pen the script, The Housemaid became a bona fide viral sensation among mostly female readers who helped its sales hit a fever pitch. As the book became a New York Times bestseller, it was clear to Lieberman that a film, in the right hands, could become a big hit. This is step one of setting up a potential mid-budgeted hit. Seek out subject matter, original or otherwise, with the right hook to engage the interest of the audience.
Lieberman did his due diligence to convince Lionsgate that The Housemaid could be a win. He focused on the book’s huge sales and the growing interest in the source material on social media. Studios crave a built-in fan base like this because it can sometimes ensure box office success. Given the popularity of the book with the female demographic, an audience that proves time and time again how viable they can be to box office success, Lionsgate had begun to see what Lieberman was seeing.
This provides us with step two. Know which audience is starved for content that will get them out of their homes and headed to their local movie theater. The Housemaid was becoming a watercooler book among fans, and it was one that they couldn’t stop talking about. A film adaptation would more than likely do the same, as the right visuals could be put in place to bring this salacious book to life.
From there, it was about getting the right talent in front of and behind the camera. Hidden Pictures hired Feig to direct, a filmmaker primarily known for comedies, but transitioned to the world of thrillers with bite after successfully helming A Simple Favor, another film based on a popular book with the female demo. He actually wasn’t their first choice, but when their original director dropped out over scheduling conflicts, it was clear Feig could work around a thriller but also infuse it with the necessary dark humor that could make it stand out. After Feig became involved, Sweeney came on board to portray Millie, and she was a big get because of the success she had with Anyone but You. The one issue with Sweeney at the time she was hired was her very tight schedule.
The filming for Season 3 of Euphoria had a potential start date, and she was tied to that contractually, so they had to work out a 32-day schedule for the actress so she could fulfill both obligations. Soon after Feig was brought in as the film’s new director, Seyfried had signed on, and they were off to the races to begin shooting at the start of 2025. Here we have step three: Do whatever you can to get the right people involved to give the project a creative leg up. Not only do the right director and actors make it of interest to moviegoers from an aesthetic standpoint, but they can also guarantee they’ll give 110 percent to make the film the best it can be.
Judging from all of the press interviews done around the time The Housemaid was released, this was a great shoot for all involved. Sweeney and Seyfriend became fast friends while Feig was their fearless leader with a firm grasp on the material. They felt confident they delivered a good movie, but making a film successful takes a few moving pieces. After The Housemaid wrapped, it was determined that the right release date would be on Christmas Day. The holiday corridor is known for turning even the lesser of films into leggy hits, so this felt like the right move for The Housemaid. However, there was the behemoth known as Avatar: Fire & Ash opening a few days before on December 19th.
Facing off with the world of Pandora days after it opens appeared to be a daunting task, but Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson and head of domestic distribution Kevin Grayson decided to go at James Cameron head-on. Ahead of its release, The Housemaid shifted directly to the same day as the Avatar sequel, a move many felt was foolish, while others, very wisely, saw an opportunity. These two movies are vying for different audiences, so The Housemaid would provide perfect counter programming, and opening the film earlier would allow it to take full advantage of the holiday block ahead of Christmas and heading into the new year. Step four is obviously knowing the right time to unveil your film for the optimum amount of word of mouth to work its magic.
The Housemaid was also cleverly marketed. The trailers sold the film perfectly and made the target audience see that the book they have come to love would be given the proper big-screen treatment. Set over a remixed version of Sabrina Carpenter’s hit, “Please, Please, Please,” the trailers for The Housemaid displayed the unhinged mystery of its plot and the derangement of some of its characters, particularly Seyfried’s Nina Winchester, who, even in the film’s trailers and TV spots, made it obvious that the actress understood the assignment. In many ways, The Housemaid is a throwback to the thrillers of the past, such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Single White Female.
While they aren’t made nearly as much anymore because they have lost their box office potency, it felt as if everyone involved with The Housemaid knew older and newer generations would appreciate the movie, having these films of the past in its DNA. Step five is all about knowing how to sell your movie to the target audience, but there was one potential snag at play.
Sweeney, when cast, was coming off a big hit with Anyone but You, but before The Housemaid was released, the actress had starred in a series of films that didn’t light up the box office. Americana, Eden, and Christy, the latter of which was intended to garner her potential Oscar buzz, all fizzled. In addition to this, the actress was dealing with a PR nightmare surrounding being involved in an American Eagle campaign that social media decided presented Sweeney as being racially and genetically superior because “her jeans are better than yours.”
Once she received the support of controversial Republican figures such as Vice President JD Vance, and her subsequent interviews didn’t properly address the controversy, it seemed as if the world was turning on Sweeney. Most of this was social media groundswell and the industry wanting to hype you up when you’re fresh off a hit, but wanting to knock you down several pegs once your movies underperform.
The one person that seemed unbothered by this was Sweeney, at least publicly, and behind the scenes, she was making moves to help The Housemaid gain momentum ahead of its release. In early 2025, while shooting a scene for the film with Sklenar in which their characters are watching an old episode of Family Feud, the actress suggested that the cast go on Celebrity Family Feud during the film’s press run. Feig loved the idea and went to Lionsgate to get the ball rolling on the cast making an appearance. Sweeney, Seyfried, and Sklenar were the primary players involved in the episode, which aired on December 4th, and their appearance soon went viral as it was strategically scheduled ahead of the film’s release and showcased the cast just simply having a good time.
It became a key promotional strategy and was a fun marketing tool that felt more laid back than a traditional press junket appearance. This was a smart move by Sweeney, and something that is credited with helping The Housemaid become a hit. Remember that everything can turn around once you’re in a big hit, and now Sweeney has another one under her belt that has made many forget that her previous three movies, all small films that weren’t expected to be huge, didn’t make a dent at the box office.
It was clear that The Housemaid was going to be a hit when it opened to $19 million following its opening weekend, but it’s how it played after that initial opening that has made it the surprise talk of the industry. Following its opening weekend, the movie experienced slim drops of 19.5 percent, 1.4 percent, 27.8 percent, and 21.7 percent. Its biggest drop happened over this last weekend at 53.9 percent, but many point to the extreme weather conditions as to why the movie dropped so drastically. This is the leggy hit that studios dream and Lionsgate got just that with The Housemaid. Throw in decent reviews at 73 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and audiences clearly eating this all up, The Housemaid has utilized all of its assets to become a huge hit.
Another big sign of its success is its international footprint. Not only are mid-budget films not a guarantee in this post-pandemic world, but overseas numbers haven’t been what they used to be for many films either. Studios used to rely on international grosses to help save them when domestic figures were lacking. That’s just not the case anymore, but The Housemaid has bucked that trend with international figures that have eclipsed its domestic showing.
While $115 million and counting in the States is nothing to sneeze at, the $179 million in foreign territories has proven to be another element in the film’s success. Each weekend, the global prospects for The Housemaid keep changing, and there are some box office analysts who believe that a final worldwide take of close to $400 million is a believable possibility. Not bad for a $35 million thriller that no one, except those involved with the project, saw coming.
This is why films of this scale SHOULD still be viable at the box office and on the theatrical front. The cost is low, and the reward can be so high that it makes taking a risk on them worth it. That being said, the risk also needs to be accompanied by a strategic release and marketing plan. The Housemaid wasn’t just released to the masses without a plan. So many pieces were put in place to make this work, but they are pieces that studios should pay close attention to. It’s the subject matter, it’s getting the right creatives involved, it’s the marketing, and it’s catering to an underserved audience (in this case, the female demo that has proven once again why they shouldn’t be underserved).
The result, in this case, is a bona fide hit and a franchise for Lionsgate, Sweeney, and Feig. The Housemaid’s Secret is already in development and is expected to shoot this year. Sweeney and Feig are returning, and even though Seyfried’s character isn’t in the second book, reports suggest they are working something out to include her in some capacity. Even though the writing wasn’t totally on the wall that The Housemaid would catch on like this, the major players behind the film were confident it would work, and we honestly need more of that confidence in the industry to ensure movies like this remain viable moving forward.
The Housemaid is currently playing in theaters nationwide.
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