Book phenomenon “The Housemaid” by Frieda McFadden is set to film in Ridgewood, New Jersey by production company Hidden Pictures and director Paul Feig.
Entertainment company Lionsgate announced Oct. 10, 2024, the novel is being turned into a film. McFadden’s novel has been on The New York Times bestseller list for over a year and made multiple appearances on “booktok” as McFadden fans raved about the novel.
The novel is about a woman who has recently been released from prison and is unemployed. With her outstanding criminal record, she has trouble affording a place to live and food, so she finds herself working as a housemaid for a wealthy family. She is hired by Nina Winchester but is forced to live in their attic bedroom where the lock only locks on the outside. Millie chooses to keep her past to herself as she works for the Winchesters, but she later finds out that the Winchesters have secrets of their own.
With over 4.5 million copies sold since it was published April 26, 2022, the novel gained popularity on all social media platforms, specifically TikTok. McFadden became known for her thriller novels fans reviewed on TikTok. Due to the fame of the novel, Oscar winner and Emmy nominated producer Todd Lieberman and Lionsgate bought the rights to the novel in a four-way auction.
Rebecca Sonnenshine, writer and producer for “The Boys” from Amazon Prime series, is set to be the writer for “The Housemaid.” Sonnenshine is also known for producing “The Vampire Diaries,” being the creative showrunner “Archive 81” on Netflix and writing thriller scenes that make viewers confront their fears.
Unlike Sonnenshine, director Paul Feig is primarily known for directing comedy films such as “Bridesmaids” (2011) and “Ghostbusters" (2016). After directing “A Simple Favor” (2018), Feig started to get into the thriller and crime genres.
Sydney Sweeney is set to play main character Millie. The actor made headlines after starring as Cassie in “Euphoria” and in “Anyone But You” (2023) alongside Glen Powell.
Amanda Seyfried, who is best known for playing Sophie in “Mamma Mia,” is set to play Nina Winchester. Brandon Sklenar, known for portraying Atlas in “It Ends with Us” is set to portray Andrew Winchester. Italian actor Michele Morrone is cast as Enzo, the Italian landscaper for the Winchesters that Millie meets. He told People Magazine that this role “couldn’t be any closer” to his “journey” since he was a gardener before he was an actor.
The film’s casting has stirred controversy on TikTok after a video released of the actors with the novel in their hands. While some fans were excited for the casting choices, other fans were not happy with some decisions. Some fans demanded Theo James take over Sklenar’s place after Sklenar publicly sided with Blake Lively in the ongoing lawsuit with Justin Baldoni.
As the cast of “The Housemaid” continues to promote the upcoming film, McFadden has gained the attention of book reviewers on social media who rave about her novels. The author started writing in 2013 with her first book “The Devil Wears Scrubs,” which was influenced by her career as a physician who specializes in brain injuries.
Her medical knowledge is seen through multiple of her novels such as “Ward D” and “The Perfect Son” and infuses those thriller moments fans crave. She uses the name McFadden as her pen name, to keep her physician and author lives separate.
McFadden exclaimed she particularly wrote “The Housemaid” from a scene she read from another novel where the “employer was a bit snippy to her one maid.” She wanted to turn it into a whole plotline that captivated herself and potential readers.
“Usually, my first drafts run around 60,000 words,” McFadden said in an interview with Writer’s Digest. “And there was a point when I was writing it where I was like, ‘Oh no! I’ve written so much, and I still have so much more to say!’”
With "The Housemaid" having a sequel “The Housemaid’s Secret” and a third novel “The Housemaid Is Watching,” the series has sold 1.8 million copies and broke records with half a billion page reads on Amazon Kindle’s unlimited subscription program.
McFadden’s enthusiasm for the adaption is present on her Instagram account, as she posts about the making of the film to update fans about it. She describes this whole experience as “mind-blowing” and gives credit to the producers for “making all this magic happen.”
The cast and crew started filming Jan. 3, the film is set to premiere on Dec. 25, 2025.