What Freida McFadden Book-To-Screen Adaptations Are Next After The Housemaid?
Fans of Freida McFadden’s literary universe will soon be treated to more book-to-screen adaptations of her thrillers following the success of The Housemaid movie.
Prolific psychological thriller author Freida McFadden just celebrated her first feature film adaptation, and it’ll be far from her last.
Just three weeks after the big-screen release of The Housemaid—based on her best-selling 2022 book of the same name—Lionsgate announced that a sequel has been greenlit.
The follow-up will be based on The Housemaid’s Secret, the second of three novels (and one short story) in McFadden’s Housemaid series. Sydney Sweeney is expected to reprise her role as the titular housekeeper Millie Calloway, with co-star Michele Morrone rejoining her onscreen as Enzo Accardi.
The Housemaid’s Secret is just one of multiple McFadden book-to-screen projects on the way, and SYFY WIRE has the latest on everything that’s currently in development.
The Housemaid's Secret
When Lionsgate announced their plans for The Housemaid’s Secret on Jan. 6, they revealed that the film had already been in development “for the past few months” and was expected to go into production this year.
In addition to Sweeney and Morrone’s planned returns, other members of The Housemaid team are set to be back for round two, including screenwriter Rebecca Sonneshine and director and producer Paul Feig.
“We’re lucky that Freida McFadden has already extended Millie’s journey on the page,” Feig said in a statement, “and that we get to work with Rebecca Sonnenshine and Lionsgate to bring this next story to audiences.”
In McFadden’s novel, which picks up four years after the events of The Housemaid, Millie begins working with a new family, and sinister events quickly unfold.
The Surrogate Mother
On the same day that The Housemaid hit theaters, Sony landed the film rights to another McFadden hit: The Surrogate Mother.
Screenwriter Anna Klassen—who’s also working on adaptations of Rebecca Yarros’ The Last Letter and Anna Shilling’s All in Monte Carlo—has been tapped for the script, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Surrogate Mother follows Abby, a woman who accepts her assistant’s offer to be her surrogate, only to uncover startling secrets about the woman carrying her child.
The Teacher
A movie based on The Teacher, McFadden’s 2024 novel about a school rocked by scandal, is being developed by Apple Original Films, according to Deadline.
Screenwriting-directing duo Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, who last collaborated 2024’s Tarot, are reportedly adapting the book.
Never Lie
In Never Lie, a pair of newlyweds move into a house that once belonged to a psychiatrist who went missing years prior. Audio tapes discovered in the home help unravel the shocking truth about her disappearance.
Netflix acquired the rights to the book in 2024, The Hollywood Reporter announced at the time.
Dear Debbie
While McFadden’s book Dear Debbie hasn’t even hit shelves yet, an adaptation is already in the works.
Gina Girolamo, an executive producer on TV thrillers You and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, is turning the forthcoming novel into a series for Amazon MGM Studios, Deadline reported in September.
McFadden’s book, out Jan. 27, tells the story of an advice columnist who wants revenge after her life begins “spiraling out of control,” according to her website.
The Tenant
In addition to Dear Debbie, Amazon MGM Studios is also working on a film adaptation of The Tenant, per Deadline.
The story centers on Blake, a man who rents out a room in his brownstone to make ends meet—only to realize his tenant is not who she seems.
