Sydney Sweeney’s ‘The Housemaid’ Surges Past Box Office Records

After a string of underwhelming releases, Sydney Sweeney has found herself back in the spotlight, thanks to the unexpected triumph of Paul Feig’s psychological thriller, The Housemaid. Teaming up with Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, Sweeney’s latest project has managed to outpace her previous box office best, Anyone But You, which she starred in alongside Glen Powell back in 2023. That romantic comedy, once seen as her ticket to mainstream stardom, pulled in just over $88 million in the States. Yet, it’s The Housemaid, now approaching the $90 million mark domestically in its fourth weekend, that’s rewritten her narrative. With global takings set to cross $150 million, a follow-up is already in the works.

2025 was meant to be Sweeney’s year, with a packed release schedule including Americana, Eden, and Christy, all arriving within months of each other before The Housemaid closed out the year. Unfortunately, those earlier films failed to make much of a dent at the box office, despite Americana and Eden later finding their audience on streaming platforms. The Housemaid, however, has more than compensated for those setbacks, and its performance in cinemas is likely to be bolstered further once it lands on VOD and streaming services in the near future.

Sequel Confirmed Amidst Surging Popularity

Although Freida McFadden’s original novel, which inspired The Housemaid, boasts two sequels, there was no guarantee the film would spark a franchise. Paul Feig, known for steering clear of sequels, seemed an unlikely candidate to return. Yet, the film’s resounding success and the director’s evident enjoyment on set may have changed the equation. Feig, reflecting on the experience, shared:

"Getting to mess with an audience this much? How can you turn that down? Usually, my films have some kind of twist in them. Some are bigger than others, but I like to fool an audience and entertain them at the same time. And I like how extreme this film gets. I'm a maximalist; I like things to be playing at 11. It was just all there. The source material is so popular anyway, so you know you've got a built-in audience. But more than that, it's having this amazing blueprint that Freida McFadden wrote. And just getting to cast amazing actors in it, and take it on."

With The Housemaid 2 now officially on the cards, Sweeney can finally breathe a little easier, having put a run of box office disappointments behind her. The original film remains in cinemas for now, with digital and streaming releases just around the corner.