Paul Feig paid tribute to his fellow director, Rob Reiner, on Monday night by dedicating the premiere screening of his new movie “The Housemaid,” in part, to the late filmmaker and Michele Singer Reiner.
“I hope you all have a good time, please have fun. I would like to very much dedicate this screening — first of all, to my wife — and then also to my good friends Rob and Michele Reiner,” Feig told the audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre.
The director previously shared the following message once Rob and Michele’s deaths were first reported on Sunday: “One of my most cherished pictures. Rob was my true hero. A true visionary titan and a lovely, lovely person. One never knows if it’s proper to post during something as tragic as this. But I just want the world to know what so many of us know in the industry. Rob was the best.”
Despite the recent tragedy in town, Feig also reminded his Monday night viewers that they are allowed to enjoy themselves at the movies, adding, “Remember, this is not church; it’s OK to have fun, it’s OK to be loud, it’s OK to be vocal during this movie. This movie is dark, but it’s meant to have fun with.”
Based on the popular book series, “The Housemaid” stars Sydney Sweeney as a hopeful housekeeper who selflessly wants to take care of Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar’s New York mansion. Naturally, chaos ensues, ultimately providing a twisted, thrilling, campy ride that had the audience playing along.
“One of the first movies I ever saw at the Chinese was ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ opening morning, the first show, and the audience went crazy and it made me want to become a film director,” Feig told TheWrap on the red carpet. “That was the moment where I said, ‘I need to do this.’ If I can affect an audience the way Spielberg did with that film and have them responding and being participatory, that’s the gold.”
The filmmaker’s latest also comes on the heels of “A Simple Favor 2,” which also premiered in 2025 (and also stars Michele Morrone).
“I love nothing more than working, so I wish I could have two movies every year — just back-to-back,” Feig shared. “Honestly, we did three in a row because we did ‘Jackpot!’ pretty quickly last year, too. As a filmmaker, you just want to make films. Federico Fellini on his deathbed said, ‘I wish I made more movies,’ and I live by that mantra.”
“It was sent to me as a script with Syd attatched, and I’d been dying to work with Syd cause I’m just a big fan of hers. When I saw that movie ‘Reality,’ that was the moment I was like, ‘Wow, she’s amazing to watch.’ ‘Immaculate,’ she’s great,” he continued. “Then I read the book and Rebecca Sonnenshine, our screenwriter, did such an amazing job of paring the book down that I was able to go in and add a couple things back from the book — and then she added this whole extra ending to it, which is just so satisfying.”
The Lionsgate event also featured an afterparty at Tao, with appearances from co-stars Sarah Cooper, Indiana Elle, Megan Ferguson, Ellen Tamaki, Amanda Joy Erickson, Arabella Olivia Clark and producer Todd Lieberman, as well as Tyler Posey, Miranda Cosgrove, Awkwafina, Tim Bagley, Angelique Cabral, Michael Hitchcock, Josh Meyers, Jai Rodriguez and Elise Donovan.
“The Housemaid” steps into theaters this Friday.
