The Housemaid is cleaning up, so a sequel is on the way

Sydney Sweeney and Paul Feig will return for another round of domestic thrills in The Housemaid's Secret.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  January 6, 2026 | 7:52pm
Courtesy of Lionsgate
Film News The Housemaid
The Housemaid is cleaning up, so a sequel is on the way

The Housemaid has a few more rooms to straighten up. Seeing as the $30 million domestic thriller has grossed more than $133 million as counter-programming to Zootopia and Avatar, the fine folks at Lionsgate are hiring The Housemaid for another outing. Variety reports that star Sydney Sweeney (from the jeans ads) and Paul Feig (from Heavyweights) have been called back into work for a sequel, which goes into production later this year.

Based on the second book in author Freida McFadden’s blockbuster series, The Housemaid’s Secret, according to a red-carpet interview with Amanda Seyfried, will follow Sweeney’s character, Millie Calloway, as she terrorizes a new family. “There’s so much that happens, especially with Michele [Morrone] ‘s character Enzo,” Seyfried told Variety. “I really wanna see how she keeps Nina Winchester in her pocket, because I will jump the fuck back into that.”

The Housemaid was a necessary win for many involved. Coming off a string of duds, including the Sydney Sweeney-led Americana, Lionsgate finally made a mid-budget movie that connected with audiences. Likewise, Paul Feig has been buried in the algorithm since Last Christmas, filling out various digital carousels with forgotten titles like The School For Good And Evil and Jackpot! And, of course, there’s Sydney Sweeney, who hasn’t had a hit since 2023’s Anyone But You, spending the next two years bouncing around high-profile bombs like Madame Web, Eden, Christy, and that jeans commercial, which really got away from her and reality. 

The first Housemaid received a respectable B- from The A.V. Club, with critic Jesse Hassenger calling the film, “An exercise in throwback hopscotch, with touches of ’90s domestic-interloper thriller and the Hitchcock mysteries that inspired them.” With Feig and Sweeney returning, we’ll see if Housemaids make for better sequels than Simple Plans.

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