When it comes to addictive psychological thrillers, there are few modern-day authors more successful than Freida McFadden. The New York City-native is currently the top-selling thriller writer in the United States, hugely thanks to her 2022 novel The Housemaid.
The book about a domestic cleaner who is not all that she appears has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 75 weeks and counting, and on the Amazon bestsellers list for 98 weeks and counting. It also has a record-breaking half-billion pages read on Kindle, has sold more than 3.6 million copies in English, and has been translated into 40 languages.
With these numbers, it was only a matter of time before the story would be translated to the screen, and an adaptation of McFadden’s novel is now officially in the works at Lionsgate. The Housemaid will star Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried; Paul Feig, known for his work on Bridesmaids and A Simple Favor, has been tapped to direct.
Sweeney will play Millie, a struggling woman who has recently been paroled from prison and takes up a job as a housemaid to Nina (Seyfried) and Andrew (yet to be cast), an upscale, wealthy couple. ‘Millie soon learns the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own,’ teases the official logline.
Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney
‘Part of the fun of the book was imagining the cast while we read it, and Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried are perfect for Millie and Nina – they’re both mysterious, nuanced, and incredibly skilled at becoming characters who don’t reveal everything right away,’ said Erin Westerman, co-president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
‘We’re thrilled to team them with Paul Feig, who we worked with on A Simple Favor and its upcoming sequel and has a proven track record of developing stories with dynamic female leads.’
