All articles tagged with #the housemaid
USA Today reveals Freida McFadden’s real name is Sara Cohen, a practicing brain-disorder doctor who wore a red wig to hide her identity; she left medicine in late 2023 to write full-time (now part-time) and the piece notes that Sydney Sweeney would play Sara Cohen and Amanda Seyfried would play Freida McFadden in the adaptation.
Freida McFadden, the thriller author behind The Housemaid, revealed she has used the pseudonym Sara Cohen and wore a wig and glasses to keep her brain-disorder doctor career private. She left full-time practice in 2023 and says she’s ready to publicly embrace her real identity while continuing to publish as McFadden; her next novel The Divorce is due May 26.
Freida McFadden publicly reveals her real identity as Sara Cohen, a physician who used a pseudonym to separate her writing from her medical career; she will continue publishing as McFadden. The Housemaid, the 2022 thriller that began the series and was adapted into a film starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, is part of a developing franchise with The Housemaid’s Secret slated for a December 17, 2027 theatrical release, with Kirsten Dunst joining the cast and Paul Feig directing the sequel.
Bestselling thriller author Freida McFadden has revealed her real name, Sara Cohen, explaining she wrote under a pseudonym while practicing as a doctor. Cohen, who has published 27 novels, gained major fame with The Housemaid, which was adapted into a film that has grossed about $400 million. She will continue publishing under her established pen name and has reduced her medical work to occasional shifts. A sequel to The Housemaid, The Housemaid’s Secret, is in development with Sydney Sweeney returning and Kirsten Dunst potentially joining the project.
Best-selling thriller author Freida McFadden revealed her real name as Sara Cohen, explaining she created the Freida pseudonym to protect her medical career; she’s stepping back from full-time medicine and continuing to publish prolifically, with millions of copies sold in the UK and US and The Housemaid adapted into a film.
Freida McFadden revealed in a USA Today interview that her real name is Sara Cohen, a neurologist who kept her author persona secret to protect her medical career; she has stepped back from practice and will continue writing under the Freida McFadden name.
Freida McFadden—the author of The Housemaid—reveals her real name is Sara Cohen, a brain-disorder doctor who wrote under a pseudonym to protect her medical career. She’s stepped back from full-time practice but will continue writing as McFadden. A Lionsgate sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret, is in the works with Paul Feig directing and Sydney Sweeney and Kirsten Dunst co-starring, premiering Dec. 17, 2027.
Kirsten Dunst is joining The Housemaid's Secret, the sequel to 2025's hit The Housemaid, based on Freida McFadden's novel and led by Sydney Sweeney. The film follows Millie as she returns to work for a new family and uncovers dark secrets behind a locked door. Paul Feig will direct from a script by Rebecca Sonnshine; Michele Morrone returns as Enzo, while Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar won't reprise their roles. Hidden Pictures, Fifty Fifty Films and Lionsgate are producing.
Amanda Seyfried revealed on The Graham Norton Show that she didn’t realize she was credited as an executive producer on Paul Feig’s The Housemaid until three weeks into filming, calling the credit a vanity one since she mainly acted and hadn’t signed up to produce. Her team reportedly negotiated the EP credit after she saw the call sheet. The film, which also stars Sydney Sweeney, has neared $375 million worldwide.
Hollywood’s box office is riding a sustained surge for women-led titles, with strong global grosses for projects like Lionsgate’s The Housemaid (about $353 million worldwide) and notable openings for remakes and sequels such as Reminders of Him and The Devil Wears Prada 2, signaling a diversified, female-centered slate shaping the 2026 box office.
The Housemaid has crossed $300 million worldwide ($305M total: $116M domestic and $189.1M international) on a $35M production budget, making Sydney Sweeney’s highest-grossing film to date; the international market drove most of the takings and a sequel is already in development.
Director Paul Feig explains that The Housemaid uses Hitchcock-inspired suspense and precise audience manipulation, with clues seeded early, a mid-film twist revealing the antagonist, and a collaborative process guided by test screenings, cast input, and audience feedback to deliver a fun, female-centric thriller.
Paul Feig’s The Housemaid has crossed $200 million worldwide (over $100 million in North America, with overseas totals near $100 million), recently surpassing Leonardo DiCaprio’s One Battle After Another at about $206.3 million. Its global haul is around $209.2 million, positioning it for a spot among the top-grossing films of 2025.
Amanda Seyfried told The New Yorker that winning an Oscar isn’t essential, suggesting she’s come this far without one and that the nomination, not the win, can propel an actor’s career. She notes longevity comes from deliberate, art-focused choices amid big-budget projects, and points to The Housemaid’s financial success as validation. The interview references her past Oscar nomination for Mank and Golden Globes/ Critics’ Choice nods for The Testament of Ann Lee, underscoring that she’s resilient through career ebbs and flows and remains focused on meaningful roles.
Avatar: Fire and Ash led the North American box office for the fifth weekend with about $13.3 million, while The Bone Temple opened in second at roughly $13 million and is projected around $15 million by MLK Day, still behind Avatar’s roughly $17.2 million. Zootopia 2 placed third, becoming the highest-grossing animated release in the MA category, with The Housemaid and Marty Supreme following in the top five. The Bone Temple benefits from solid reviews (93% Rotten Tomatoes, 72% PostTrak) but faces a challenging profitability path on its $63 million production budget, while international gross stood at $16.2 million."