The sequel to hit erotic thriller The Housemaid shoots in the autumn, with Kirsten Dunst set to join Sydney Sweeney in another posh home with dark secrets. 24th March: Days after it was announced that Kirsten Dunst has a role in the forthcoming sequel to A Minecraft Movie, it’s revealed that the actor has a ... The Housemaid | Kirsten Dunst to join Sydney Sweeney in sequel, shooting sequel this autumn
The sequel to hit erotic thriller The Housemaid shoots in the autumn, with Kirsten Dunst set to join Sydney Sweeney in another posh home with dark secrets.
24th March: Days after it was announced that Kirsten Dunst has a role in the forthcoming sequel to A Minecraft Movie, it’s revealed that the actor has a role in another follow-up.
According to Deadline, Dunst is set to join Sydney Sweeney in the further adventures of Millie, Sweeney’s character in The Housemaid. That erotic thriller was a sizeable hit for director Paul Feig and Lionsgate earlier this year, and so the studio has fast-tracked production on a sequel. Filming is expected to begin this autumn (see below).
Dunst’s involvement isn’t some “actor circles a role” rumour, either. Lionsgate has confirmed the deal – with a statement and everything:
“It is a privilege to bring The Housemaid’s next chapter to the screen with Kirsten Dunst,” said Lionsgate president Erin Westerman in a statement to Deadline. “She is an icon. Her career reflects extraordinary range and fearlessness. Opposite the ever-magnetic Sydney Sweeney, she will be an electrifying force in a world where nothing is ever quite as it seems.”
The sequel will be based on Michele McFadden’s second novel in the series, The Housemaid’s Secret, which will see Millie at another posh house with its own dark secrets.
More on the sequel as it comes in.
Our original story follows…
17th March: A sequel to last December’s erotic thriller is still on track. Returning director Paul Feig, collared on the red carpet during the weekend’s Oscars ceremony, said that the script is being rewritten and “we start shooting in the fall.” (A hat tip to Deadline for this.)
Called The Housemaid’s Secret, the sequel will again star Sydney Sweeney as the enigmatic Millie Calloway. Author Freida McFadden has written three books in the Housemaid series to date (plus a 2024 short story, The Housemaid’s Wedding), so we could be in for at least a trilogy of these thrillers if Feig, Sweeney and audiences have the energy for it.
Earlier….
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7th January: In an era where mid-budget thrillers tend to go straight to streaming, The Housemaid was a welcome exception to that trend. Emerging in cinemas last December, director Paul Feig’s saucy nailbiter has proven to be an unexpectedly sizeable hit, making $135m (so far) on a budget of $35m.
Based on the novel of the same name by Frieda McFadden (and adapted by screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine), The Housemaid is powered by its leading performances – Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried – a sizeable twist or two, and a welcome streak of dark humour.
The combination is so appealing that Lionsgate has already greenlit a sequel, with Feig, Sweeney and co-star Michele Morrone all returning. According to Variety, the sequel will go into production later this year, with Sonnenshine hired to adapt the second book in McFadden’s series, called The Housemaid’s Secret.
It follows that if this second film’s a success, then a whole string of Housemaid movies could follow; McFadden has written three books to date, plus 2024’s short story The Housemaid’s Wedding (released the same year as the third book in the series, The Housemaid Is Watching. Clearly, McFadden doesn’t sleep all that much).
“It’s been thrilling to see audiences around the world fall in love with The Housemaid and the incredible work of our talented cast and crew,” Feig said in a statement. “We’re lucky that Freida McFadden has already extended Millie’s journey on the page, and that we get to work with Rebecca Sonnenshine and Lionsgate to bring this next story to audiences.”
The first movie, without spoiling things, introduces Millie (Sweeney), a troubled young woman who becomes the live-in maid for a moneyed family. It doesn’t take Millie long to realise that there are strange things going on in the Winchester family’s rambling house; wife Nina (Seyfried) exhibits some worrying behaviour, and why is the window in the attic sealed shut…?
Simon gave The Housemaid four stars in his review, calling it “gleefully entertaining” and arguing that it’s a worthwhile bit of counter programming to this winter’s 197-minute Avatar: Fire And Ash. A sizeable number of cinema-goers clearly agree.
More on The Housemaid’s Secret as we get it.
