The Housemaid Crushes Sydney Sweeney’s Worst Movie at the Box Office as Star Confirms Sequel
Going toe-to-toe with holiday juggernauts like Avatar: Fire and Ash, Sydney Sweeney’s The Housemaid has emerged as a stealth hit, racking up $75 million domestic and $133 million worldwide for director Paul Feig’s thriller.
Holiday movie season was slammed, with everything from big blue sci-fi to prestige bait fighting for screens. Into that mess walked The Housemaid, Sydney Sweeney's psychological thriller, and... it actually hung in there. Not a monster hit, but strong enough to matter, and now there is chatter about a sequel.
Box office snapshot and the vibe check
The Housemaid opened December 19, 2025 and had to go toe-to-toe with Avatar: Fire and Ash. Even so, it has pulled in $75 million domestic and $133 million worldwide so far (per The Numbers). For context, that clears Sweeney's own Madame Web, which topped out around $100 million globally (per Box Office Mojo). Not bad for a mid-budget thriller about a maid with a past.
Reception-wise, it is sitting at a 6.8/10 on IMDb, with Rotten Tomatoes showing a 73% critics score and a very healthy 92% audience score. If you felt the crowd leaning in during the third-act twist, you weren't imagining it.
The quick rundown
- Director: Paul Feig
- Screenplay: Rebecca Sonnenshine
- Based on: Freida McFadden's 2022 novel
- Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone, Elizabeth Perkins, Mark Grossman
- Genre: Psychological thriller
- Production company: Hidden Pictures
- Theatrical release: December 19, 2025
- Premise: Sweeney plays Millie, a young maid looking to outrun her past, who lands a job in the Winchester house and finds out quickly that the help is never just the help
So... is The Housemaid 2 actually happening?
Nothing official from the studio yet. But Amanda Seyfried (who plays Nina Winchester) is out here making promises. In a Variety video posted January 4, 2026, she did not hedge.
'I guarantee a Housemaid 2 will happen.'
To be clear: that is not the same thing as an announcement. Still, Seyfried went further, saying she expects to pop up in more of a cameo next time because the story would center on 'Syd' (Sydney Sweeney) taking on a new family. She also teased that Michele Morrone's character, Enzo, could factor into whatever comes next. And she likes that Millie now has leverage over Nina Winchester — which, if you saw the ending, tracks.
Where the movie leaves Millie — and what the books suggest
The film closes with Nina recommending Millie to another woman, basically nudging her toward a new assignment. The suggestion is that Millie might be stepping into another bad marriage to dismantle it from the inside — only this time, she knows the game she is playing.
There are two more books in Freida McFadden's series. The second, The Housemaid's Secret, has Millie hired by a wealthy man to care for his sick wife, and she suspects abuse — but the lines between victim and villain keep shifting. The third book follows Millie trying to live a normal life before she gets sucked into the messes and conspiracies of her neighbors and new community. The movie's end tease doesn't exactly match the second book's setup, but it is in the same neighborhood: Millie moves on, thinks she can handle it, and then the walls start closing in. If they lean into that arc, Sweeney gets an even juicier lead turn.
Bottom line
The Housemaid has done better than expected in a packed window, outgrossed Madame Web globally, and built enough goodwill with audiences to make a sequel feel like a smart bet — even if no one has put ink to paper yet. If you're curious, the first film is still playing in U.S. theaters. And if you like your thrillers glossy, twisty, and a little mean, this one delivers.