Housemaid Producer On Actually Knowing It Would Be A Box Office Winner When No One Else Did

The Housemaid has seen a considerable amount of success since its release this past December. Amid the first first box office weekend of 2026, Avatar: Fire and Ash may have remained on top, but Housemaid landed at #3 with a sturdy a weekend gross of over $14 million. Around that same time, the Sydney Sweeney-led film also reached $100 million globally. While the book-to-screen had a modest start, producer Todd Lieberman was confident that the film would eventually be a hit.

Considering the financial trajectory Housemaid has had, it's now fair to call it a sleeper hit. In other words, the film got off to a somewhat slower start and had lower promotion than some of its peers but gradually found success due to varying factors. Todd Lieberman spoke to Business Insider about the Paul Feig-helmed thriller and mused about the irony of having a sleeper hit:

It's honestly impressive thatThe Housemaid was able to compete with the third Avatar film, the second Zootopia movie and another SpongeBob SquarePants flick. What those latter three films have in common is that they're all tied to IPs. Not only that but, unlike, Feig's film, they're not R-rated and can appeal to wider audiences as a result. That's information tha makes the box office receipts for this adaptation of Freida McFadden's 2022 book so impressive.

What needs to be noted as well is that Todd Lieberman has been responsible for producing plenty of other “underdog” films with fair budgets. For instance, his adaptation of the book Wonder finished second behind Justice League, and The Fighter made $125 million against a reported $25 million production budget. It's also important to note that the book on which Wonder was based was a New York Times Bestseller and that The Fighter arguably benefitted from word-of-mouth due to Christian Bale’s transformative performance.

In terms of The Housemaid, the film was originally supposed to have a Christmas Day release, which is a slot studios have historically liked to claim. However, it was moved up to December 19th, the same day Avatar: Fire and Ash released. On paper, that move may seem detrimental to the performance of a smaller film like Housemaid. But, as noted by Todd Lieberman, it was just the wind-up the movie needed ahead of the holiday:

That’s so brilliant, as those first few weeks provided some time for the movie to gain recognition and momentum. Also, with Avatar: Fire and Ash, David, Zootopia 2 and The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants all being family-friendly, The Housemaid eventually stood out as a true piece of adult-centric fare.

Even ahead of Housemaid's release, there was some hype brewing amongst fans of the book. Feig was already claiming people would be clutching their pearls, while McFadden said she loved the movie more than her own book. Co-stars Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried also hyped up their fun experience screening the movie early. Ultimately, critics shared mostly positive thoughts on the campy thriller. Also, word-of-mouth buzz helped bolster the movie to sweet box office heights, and Lieberman is not only pleased about what this all means for his movie but for the industry as a whole:

As of this writing, Housemaid has earned over $250 million worldwide against a reported $35 million budget. So it's no wonder Lionsgate is reportedly planning a sequel.

The shrewdest of box office analysts may have been able to predict The Housemaid's success. However, it's definitely evident that Todd Lieberman felt confident in the film's chances early on. Considering Lieberman's track record and knowledge, I wouldn't been too keen to bet against him. At this point, I'm just curious to see what the aforementioned movie's final cume is when its theatrical run ends. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and check out the movie in theaters now.