The Housemaid HBO Max release date is set, and its sequel, The Housemaid's Secret, is taking on Avengers: Secret Wars head-to-head
The movie that survived opening against Avatar is about to try the same trick on the Avengers.
The Housemaid starts streaming on HBO Max on October 9, 2026. If you somehow haven't seen it yet, congratulations on your restraint, because this movie has been everywhere.
Paul Feig's adaptation of Freida McFadden's bestseller opened in theaters on December 19, 2025, went to digital in February, and landed on Starz on April 1, where it became the network's best-performing first-window film ever. It never really left the rental charts, either. On October 6, 2026, it was still on Amazon's and Apple's top movie charts, after 243 days on Amazon's. HBO Max is its third streaming home. The money: $400.5 million worldwide on a $35 million budget, $125 million of it domestic.
The Avatar precedent
Lionsgate released The Housemaid on the same day as Avatar: Fire and Ash. Cameron's movie opened to $88 million, and The Housemaid took third place with $19 million. Then it barely dropped. By the first weekend of January, it was down just 3% week over week and had become the biggest new holiday release after Avatar.
The Housemaid opened to about a fifth of Avatar's first weekend and still became the holiday season's breakout.
Round two: Millie vs. the multiverse
Lionsgate has dated The Housemaid's Secret for December 17, 2027. That's the same day as Marvel's Avengers: Secret Wars and Warner Bros.' The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Here's what the sequel has so far:
- Director and writer: Paul Feig is back, and so is screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine.
- Returning: Sydney Sweeney as Millie and Michele Morrone as Enzo.
- New: Kirsten Dunst, Paul Anthony Kelly, and Brittany Snow.
- Story: adapted from McFadden's second book. Millie takes a job keeping house for a woman she's never allowed to see, and the locked door hides something worse than her own secrets.
Previously we wrote: Other Mommy release date and cast: Jessica Chastain leads the Bird Box author's story about a closet monster
The Avengers aren't exactly on schedule. Secret Wars has already moved twice, from May 2026 to May 2027 to December 2027, and Marvel hasn't announced the start of filming. Avengers: Doomsday has to come out first, on December 18, 2026. In July, Anthony Russo said they were prepping Secret Wars and that cameras would roll soon:
"So soon it makes us sweat a little bit."
— Anthony Russo
