The cleaning lady is headed to the stage, and given history’s track record, it’s hard to bet against it.
Lionsgate has announced that it is developing a stage adaptation of the psychological thriller, based on the bestselling novel by Freida McFadden and the hit film of the same name.
British production company Melting Pot, led by Simon Friend and Hanna Osmolska, the team behind the stage versions of Life of Pi And paranormal activity, will produce, with playwright Bekah Brunstetter, best known for Broadway The notebookwhile writing the screenplay.
A production schedule has not yet been confirmed.
This decision makes considerable business sense.
The film, directed by Paul Feig and starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has quietly become one of the most notable box office stories in recent memory, grossing $400 million worldwide on a production budget of just $35 million.
A sequel, The housekeeper’s secretis already in the works, with production expected to begin later this year ahead of a planned theatrical release on December 17, 2027.
The stage version will be inspired by both the novel and the film, which tell roughly the same story: a young woman with a hidden past occupies a position as a housekeeper within a wealthy family whose seemingly perfect life hides very dark secrets.
The endings of the book and the film differ slightly, although the main story remains the same.
For Friend, the material is a natural fit for the theater.
“When I first read The cleaning ladyit was exhilarating,” he said.
“What occurred to me was how truly theatrical the story is, not only taking place largely in a single, claustrophobic location, but also the twisty elements that modernize what has long worked in stage thrillers.”
He spoke of wanting to “up its intensity” for live audiences, a logical ambition given that much of the film’s appeal came from experiencing its campier moments and scares in a crowd.
Brunstetter is also enthusiastic.
“I am so thrilled to bring this captivating, moving, strange and even funny story to the stage,” she said.
“I’m extremely excited to dig The cleaning lady incredibly universal themes of jealousy, the pain of desire, and the trauma that binds us. »
The cleaning lady joins a growing list of Lionsgate properties moving from screen to stage.
Productions based on Dirty dance, The The Earth And Wonder are all in development, while a stage version of The hunger games is currently running in London’s West End.
This is, by any measure, an ambitious expansion, and The cleaning ladywith its built-in audience and proven commercial appeal, appears to be one of the group’s strongest bets.
