Fresh off the box office success of The Housemaid, Lionsgate announced plans to begin production in 2026 on the next installment in the franchise, The Housemaid’s Secret.
The thriller has earned more than $75 million domestically in its first 17 days of release and $133 million worldwide, with international rollouts continuing through January.
Based on the second novel in Freida McFadden’s bestselling trilogy, The Housemaid’s Secret has been in development for several months. Screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine, who adapted the first film, will return to write the sequel.
Producers Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures and Paul Feig and Laura Fischer of Pretty Dangerous Pictures are returning. Hidden Pictures’ Carly Elter and Alex Young and Housemaid star Sydney Sweeney will serve as executive producers, along with McFadden. The project is being developed with the intention of Feig returning to direct and Sweeney and Michele Morrone reprising their roles.
“It’s clear from both the global box office and the outpouring on social media that audiences have responded strongly — and audibly — to the totally unique and truly theatrical experience of The Housemaid,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson. “We believed in these stories from the very beginning and are beyond excited to bring the next chapter of Millie’s story to life with our outstanding creative partners.”
Fogelson called The Housemaid’s Secret “another wildly thrilling book” in McFadden’s series and said the studio looks forward to translating it into “a similarly rousing and riotous moviegoing experience.”
Lieberman said the team is “thrilled with the reception” to the first film. “Most rewarding has been seeing how strongly audiences are connecting with the film,” he said.
Feig added, “It’s been thrilling to see audiences around the world fall in love with The Housemaid and the incredible work of our cast and crew. We’re lucky Freida McFadden has already extended Millie’s journey on the page, and that we get to bring this next story to audiences.”
McFadden’s Housemaid book series has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. The Housemaid’s Secret accounts for 4 million of those sales. Translated into 40 languages, the novel has spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for best thriller.
The sequel will be overseen by Lionsgate executives Chelsea Kujawa and Maria Ascanio. Robert Melnik negotiated the deals for the studio.
Sonnenshine is represented by UTA, Circle Management + Production and Jill Fritzo PR. McFadden is represented by the Jane Rotrosen Agency, Cheng Caplan Co., and Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson + Christopher.
Directed by Feig from a screenplay by Sonnenshine, The Housemaid is based on McFadden’s novel and produced by Lieberman, Fischer and Feig. Executive producers include Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and McFadden. The film stars Sweeney, Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Morrone and Elizabeth Perkins.
The thriller follows Millie, a young woman trying to escape her past who accepts a live-in housemaid job for a wealthy couple, only to discover that nothing behind closed doors is what it seems.
The Housemaid is a Lionsgate release, presented by Hidden Pictures and Pretty Dangerous Pictures.