Sydney Sweeney to Star in ‘The Custom of the Country’

Sweeney will take the lead in the adaptation of the 1913 Wharton novel, which has Josie Rourke preparing to direct for production company StudioCanal.

Sydney Sweeney at the 77TH EMMY® AWARDS, broadcasting live to both coasts from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, Sunday, Sept. 14, (8:00-11:00 PM, LIVE ET/5:00-8:00 PM, LIVE PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+.Photo: Francis Specker/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Preview:

Sydney Sweeney is starring in ‘The Custom of the Country.’
It’s an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s classic novel.
‘Mary Queen of Scots’ Josie Rourke will direct.

After a rough stretch of controversial commercials and some box office flops, are things looking up for Sydney Sweeney? Could be!

Hot on the heels of ‘The Housemaid’ doing good business at the box office (and spawning a sequel in ‘The Housemaid’s Secret’) comes word of Sweeney landing another novel adaptation gig via ‘The Custom of the Country,’ which will be based on Edith Wharton's 1913 book.

According to Deadline, ‘Mary Queen of Scots’Josie Rourke is gearing up to direct the adaptation from her own script.

What's the story of ‘The Custom of the Country’?

Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway in 'The Housemaid'. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.

Sweeney will play Undine, described as “a fiercely ambitious woman from the Midwest who strives for the social heights of turn-of-the-century New York. Armed with beauty, daring/hustle and sheer force of will/unwavering ambition, she battles an entrenched elite, fearlessly courting controversy, until love and fortune align.”

‘The Custom of the Country’: the director speaks

(L to R) Sydney Sweeney and director David Michôd in 'Christy'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

Here’s Rourke on the movie:

“Undine Spragg is the original dangerous woman. Edith Wharton’s character has forever fascinated, seduced and infuriated readers. ‘The Custom of the Country’ was Wharton’s great American novel and Undine Spragg sweeps across America and through Europe at top speed, during a time of immense economic and social change. The book whistles with modernity and as I was writing this adaptation, Sydney Sweeney lived in my head as this iconic character — it’s as if Wharton sat down a century ago and wrote the role for her. I’m thrilled to be working with this luminous actor, Charles Finch, Alison Owen and StudioCanal to bring this novel to the screen.”