Sydney Sweeney’s Dark R-Rated Thriller Snatches Impressive Record from Her $218M Rom-Com

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Sydney Sweeney is having a fantastic 2025 after starring in Paul Feig’s new thriller. Following a string of unsuccessful films, she needed a hit, and she found it with The Housemaid, alongside Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar. The film has proven to be exactly that – a major success.

Since its release last month, The Housemaid has become a bigger domestic box office success than any previous film starring Sydney Sweeney, including the 2023 rom-com she made with Glen Powell. While that earlier film earned over $88 million in U.S. theaters and seemed to promise continued success, things didn’t quite go as planned. However, The Housemaid is now approaching $90 million domestically after just four weeks, and with worldwide earnings potentially reaching $150 million, a sequel is confirmed, putting Sweeney back on track for continued success.

As a film fan, I was really expecting big things from Sweeney in 2025. She had three movies – Americana, Eden, and Christy – all coming out around the same time, capped off with The Housemaid at the end of the year. Unfortunately, Christy and the others flopped in theaters, even though Americana and Eden did pretty well on streaming. But The Housemaid more than made up for everything, and I think its run in cinemas will actually get a boost now that it’s becoming available to rent and stream soon.

‘The Housemaid 2’ Is Happening

Although the book The Housemaid has two follow-up novels, a film series wasn’t guaranteed. Director Paul Feig generally doesn’t make sequels, and there were concerns about how well a Housemaid movie would perform in theaters. However, similar to his experience with Another Simple Favor, he might be open to continuing the series, especially since he clearly enjoyed making a thriller different from his typical comedies. He told MovieWeb that he had fun subverting audience expectations while making The Housemaid, saying:

The chance to really play with the audience like this was too good to pass up. I usually build a twist into my films – sometimes subtle, sometimes huge – because I love both surprising and entertaining people. I also really enjoyed how over-the-top this movie became; I prefer things to be as intense as possible. Everything just clicked. The story was already popular, which gives you a head start, but the real foundation was Freida McFadden’s fantastic writing. And being able to work with such a talented cast made it even better.

Regardless of what happens with The Housemaid 2, Sydney Sweeney can be happy that her recent string of less successful films is over. The Housemaid is currently in theaters and will be available to rent or stream online shortly.

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2026-01-11 16:18