Sydney Sweeney is turning from star-for-hire into a player with her own banner. The ”Euphoria” and ”The White Lotus” actor has launched Honey Trap, a production company that has already landed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures – a clear sign that Sony wants to keep the relationship warm after ”Anyone But You” turned into a box-office surprise.
The Sydney Sweeney Honey Trap deal also hints at where she is headed next: not just fronting projects, but helping shape them, and possibly directing one someday. Hollywood loves a multi-hyphenate until the bills come due; here, though, the business logic is obvious. A bankable lead with producer instincts is cheaper to keep close than to chase later.
Honey Trap starts with Sony
Deadline reports that Kaylee McGregor will serve as president of production and development at Honey Trap. The company says it will make ”bold cinematic films and television series” that challenge perceptions, spark conversation, and leave an emotional mark – the kind of mission statement every new banner writes, but not every banner gets to back up with a studio relationship on day one.
Sweeney is not exactly starting from zero. She previously worked with Sony on the romantic comedy ”Anyone But You,” where she starred and also served as executive producer. The film grossed more than $210 million worldwide, which explains why a first-look pact suddenly sounds less like a vanity project and more like a continuation of a profitable partnership.
Sydney Sweeney’s packed slate already under way
The Sony deal lands while Sweeney already has several other projects in motion. She recently appeared in Lionsgate’s adaptation of ”The Housemaid,” and the studio plans to begin shooting its sequel, ”The Secret of the Housemaid,” in autumn, with Sweeney alongside Kirsten Dunst.
She is also attached to a remake of ”Barbarella” for TriStar Pictures, with Edgar Wright set to direct, and she has wrapped filming on ”The Custom of the Country.” On top of that, she is currently shooting ”Gundam” for Legendary and Netflix, while Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth is developing a film for her based on ”I Pretended to Be a Missing Girl.” Busy is putting it mildly.
- New company: Honey Trap
- Studio deal: first-look agreement with Sony Pictures
- Key collaborator: Kaylee McGregor, president of production and development
- Prior Sony project: ”Anyone But You”
Sony gains a reliable name for adult-skewing projects
The smart part of this arrangement is timing. Studios have spent years hunting for stars who can still open movies without needing a superhero cape, and Sweeney has turned herself into exactly that kind of draw. If Honey Trap can pair her commercial pull with a steady pipeline of projects, Sony gets more than one hit – it gets a pipeline that starts with a name audiences already recognize.
The open question is whether Sweeney’s company becomes a genuine production engine or just another actor-led label with a glossy logo. The first-look deal suggests Sony is willing to find out.