In collaboration with Lionsgate, production company Melting Pot, led by Simon Friend and Hanna Osmolska (Life of Pi, Paranormal Activity), today announced the first dates for a major new stage adaptation of The Housemaid, based on the Lionsgate film of the same name and Freida McFadden’s literary phenomenon. The seductive psychological thriller will be adapted for the stage by playwright and screenwriter Bekah Brunstetter (Tony Award® nominee for The Notebook; The Five-Star Weekend) and directed by Tony Award® and Olivier Award nominee Matthew Dunster (2:22 A Ghost Story; The Hunger Games: On Stage). The tour opens at London’s Richmond Theatre on 14 September 2027 and will play at Norwich Theatre Royal Tue 11 – Sat 15 January 2028.
Lionsgate’s December 2025 big-screen release of The Housemaid was a box office hit, grossing over $400 million worldwide. Directed by Paul Feig from a screenplay by Rebecca Sonnenshine and based on the book by Freida McFadden, the film was produced by Todd Lieberman, p.g.a., Laura Fischer, p.g.a. and Feig. The live stage production marks the latest step in the studio’s continued expansion of The Housemaid franchise, as the sequel The Housemaid’s Secret is in production and is set for a global theatrical release on 17 December, 2027.
Tony Award® nominee Bekah Brunstetter will write the play; she earned a Tony Award® nomination for her work on the book for the Broadway musical The Notebook. Last year, her play Mother’s Day debuted as part of the DNA New Works Program at La Jolla Playhouse. Her play The Cake has been produced more than 100 times globally. Brunstetter also created the television series The Five-Star Weekend, starring Jennifer Garner and Regina Hall, and her television work includes American Gods, This Is Us, and Maid, for which she won a Writers Guild of America Award.
Matthew Dunster is a theatre and film director and writer. Previously an actor, he has directed or written over sixty theatre shows, often with major national companies (including Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Royal Court, Young Vic, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe and The Bridge), as well as directing on the West End, Broadway and internationally. He has been the Associate Director of The Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Theatre credits include: 2:22 A Ghost Story, which ran in the West End for 694 performances; Shirley Valentine and The Pillowman (The Duke of Yorks); The Homecoming (Young Vic); Dealer’s Choice (The Donmar); and The Hunger Games: On Stage (Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre). Dunster has been nominated for four Olivier Awards, and his Broadway production of Hangmen was nominated for five Tony Awards®.
Freida McFadden is a bestselling American author known for her gripping psychological thrillers and medical-themed suspense novels. With multiple bestsellers to her name, McFadden has solidified herself as a master of domestic thrillers. McFadden gained widespread recognition with her hit novel The Housemaid (2022), which became a viral sensation, leading to two sequels: The Housemaid’s Secret (2023) and The Housemaid Is Watching (2024).
McFadden’s work has been selected as one of Amazon Editors’ best books of the year; she is the winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Paperback, and she is a Goodreads Choice Award winner. Beyond her literary successes, McFadden has been lauded for her contributions to literature, with her novels consistently appearing as #1 on bestseller lists (The New York Times, Amazon Charts, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Sunday Times, and Publishers Weekly), earning praise from both critics and readers alike. To date, her novels have been translated into more than 45 languages.
“With the stage play debuting next year and our sequel film in production, the momentum behind The Housemaid franchise continues to grow,” said Jenefer Brown, Lionsgate’s President, Global Products & Experiences. “We’re thrilled to work with Simon, Hanna, Bekah and Matthew to bring this story to the stage in an entirely new way, giving audiences the chance to experience its suspense, twists and turns live.”
Producer, Simon Friend of Melting Pot continues: “Bekah’s adaptation of The Housemaid is exactly what we’d hoped for – a fresh and uniquely theatrical take on this wildly popular story, and made with Matthew Dunster’s vision, it will certainly bring a thrilling new dimension to the franchise.”