The Housemaid mints ₹2,804 crore worldwide: Sydney Sweeney’s R-rated movie is biggest box office success in her career

The Housemaid has crossed a significant milestone at the global box office. Sydney Sweeney’s latest release has earned more than $300 million ( ₹2,760 crore) worldwide. This is a big achievement for a mid-budget Hollywood film..

The R-rated psychological thriller, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has collected $116 million ( ₹1,066 crore) in North America and a strong $189.1 million ( ₹1,739 crore) from international markets, according to Variety.

This takes its total worldwide earnings to $305 million ( ₹2,804 crore). Lionsgate made the film on a modest $35 million ( ₹321 crore) budget, making it highly profitable for the studio.

The movie had to collect 2.5 times its budget (typical for a Hollywood movie) to break even. So, it needed to earn $87.5 million ( ₹804 crore) before turning profitable.

After break-even, the movie has made nearly 250% profit for the makers. It is now one of Lionsgate’s most profitable releases of the decade.

The film was released just before Christmas with an opening of $19 million ( ₹174 crore) in North America. Instead of dropping quickly, it continued to perform well into the new year.

Positive reviews and strong word of mouth helped sustain audience interest. Recently, the film topped box-office charts in countries such as the UK, France, Mexico, Brazil, and Spain, even weeks after its release.

The UK leads international earnings with $36.4 million ( ₹334 crore), followed by France, Latin America, Australia-New Zealand and Spain.

The Housemaid, directed by Paul Feig, is based on Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel. It tells a dark, psychological story about a young woman with a troubled past. She becomes a live-in maid for a rich family.

Sydney Sweeney plays the maid. Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar play a couple whose seemingly-perfect life hides disturbing secrets.

The film’s huge box office success has already cleared the way for a sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret. Sweeney is expected to return as Millie Calloway.

The Housemaid has become the biggest box office success of Sweeney’s career as a lead actor, beating Anyone But You ($220.2 million). It is also the highest-grossing film ever directed by Feig, surpassing Bridesmaids ($289.3 million).

Top R-rated movies

The Housemaid is now one of the Top 100 highest-grossing R-rated films of all time worldwide. At the top is Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) with over $1.33 billion ( ₹12,227 crore). It is followed by Joker (2019) at $1.07 billion ( ₹9,836 crore).

Oppenheimer (2023) ranks third with nearly $977 million ( ₹8,981 crore). The Deadpool franchise appears twice more in the top five.

Other notable entries include It (2017), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), Logan (2017) and The Passion of the Christ (2004).

Why is The Housemaid R-rated?

Most highest-grossing R-rated films are rated so due to the explicit violence shown. However, the case is a bit different for The Housemaid.

While the movie has violence, it also features “steamy, passionate sex with full nudity”, involving both male and female actors, according to Common Sense Media.

The IMDb parents' guide, however, calls it “moderate” while referring to the movie’s violence and gore as “severe”. The thriller also has over 50 uses of the F-word.

The Housemaid is still running in theatres across India. Its OTT release date is expected in March.