Obsession Did Something At The Box Office No Horror Movie Has Done Before
by Ryan Scott · /FilmDirector Curry Barker's "Obsession" is in the midst of making history at the box office. Despite the fact that a new "Star Wars" movie hit theaters over Memorial Day weekend, one could argue that Barker's low-budget horror sensation is the bigger story. On its second weekend in theaters, the young filmmaker's movie did something no other horror flick has done before.
Released by Focus Features, "Obsession" earned $23.9 million over the weekend, with that number growing to north of $30 million when accounting for the Monday holiday. That was good enough to give it the number two spot behind "The Mandalorian and Grogu" ($82 million three-day/$102 million four-day). Even though "The Mandalorian and Grogu" left critics divided, it was always going to be the number one movie by a wide margin.
"Obsession" climbing to the number two spot is wildly impressive. For one, that $23.9 million figure represents a 39% increase from the movie's opening weekend. That has never happened for any horror movie that opened on 2,000 or more screens that I can find in recorded box office history. The only times anything close to that has happened outside of the month of December at all was in 2016 with "Mother's Day" ($8.3 million opening/$11 million second weekend) and the controversial Summer 2023 hit that was "Sound of Freedom" ($14 million opening/$27 million second weekend).
Put simply, word of mouth for this movie has been through the roof. It's the kind of buzz no studio can buy. It's genuine, and it's been profoundly effective. /Film's BJ Colangelo called "Obsession" a "confident crowd-pleaser" in her review, but that may've been a bit of an understatement, looking at the current numbers.
Obsession is the latest low-budget horror movie to make a fortune
To date, Curry Barker's buzzy horror flick has earned more than $80 million worldwide. What's downright remarkable is that Barker made the movie for a reported budget of $750,000. While Focus Features paid $14 million to acquire it, the minimal resources makes the return-on-investment all the more impressive. As such, it's become the latest low-budget horror movie to make millions, joining the likes of "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" in the annals of cinema history.
"Obsession" centers on a hopeless romantic who breaks the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart. He quickly finds himself getting exactly what he wished for, but that wish comes with grave consequences. The film's cast includes Michael Johnson, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, Andy Richter, and Inde Navarrette, who proved to be the perfect actor to play the twisted Nikki at the center of it all.
Beyond the raw numbers, "Obsession" winning at the box office cements a new horror trend, with YouTubers successfully managing to infiltrate Hollywood. It happened with "Iron Lung" earlier this year, and it's poised to happen again this upcoming weekend with Kane Parsons' "Backrooms." It's something studios can no longer ignore. There's gold in them there hills, as it were.
Just how high can this movie fly? That's the real question right now. Unless "Backrooms" completely takes the wind out of its sails, it will pass the $100 million mark sooner rather than later. André Øvredal's "Passenger" ($8.7 million three-day/$10.5 million four-day) certainly didn't do anything to slow it down this past weekend. Either way, Barker is now horror's new superstar.
"Obsession" is currently in theaters.