LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 11: Curry Barker attends the Los Angeles Special Screening of Focus Features’ “Obsession” at the Hollywood Legion Theater on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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At a time when Hollywood is buckling under the weight of one remake after another, a new film has taken the industry by storm. Just two weekends into its theatrical run, Obsession has earned approximately $79.7 million worldwide (according to IMDb Pro’s BoxOfficeMojo) against a reported production budget of $1 million (in an interview with the New Yorker, the director said “$750,000 max”).
This makes it one of the most profitable films in years, turning 26-year-old Curry Barker into one of Hollywood’s most sought-after new filmmakers almost overnight.
What Is Obsession — The Horror Film Explained
The film follows Bear, played by Michael Johnston, a hopeless romantic who breaks a mysterious “One Wish Willow” to make his longtime crush Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette, love him more than anyone in the world. The wish is granted, but the consequences spiral into something far darker than he anticipated. No more spoilers, you’re going to watch it anyway.
The supporting cast includes Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter. Barker wrote, directed, and edited the film himself. Shot by cinematographer Taylor Clemons with a score by Rock Burwell, the film runs 109 minutes and currently holds a 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes from 218 reviews at the time of publication.
Who Is Obsession Director Curry Barker
Barker was known before Obsession primarily as one half of the YouTube comedy duo “that’s a bad idea,” alongside Cooper Tomlinson. His move into horror began with Milk & Serial, a found footage short made for $800. After failing to secure distribution, he released it free on YouTube, where strong viewer praise caught the attention of producers. Obsession is his feature debut.
Obsession Box Office: The Numbers
Obsession opened on May 15, debuting at number three domestically with $17.2 million in its first three days, per Variety. During its first full week, the film held the domestic number one spot on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, making it the cheapest film to top the domestic box office in 17 years, since Paranormal Activity in 2009.
Its second weekend performance was the figure that sent the industry into genuine shock. Rather than dropping, Obsession earned $22 million domestically in its sophomore frame, a rise of 30% over its opening weekend, with a projected four-day Memorial Day total of $28.2 million, according to Variety.
Executive producer Jason Blum posted on social media that “Obsession is the ONLY wide-release horror film on record to grow in its second weekend at this scale — $22.4M, up 30% over opening. This doesn’t happen in horror.” The domestic cumulative stands at $58.5 million as of the end of the second weekend, per Variety, with international figures bringing the worldwide total to approximately $79.7 million.
Against the $750,000-$1 million production budget, that worldwide figure represents at least 80, if not 100 times the cost of making the film.
Focus Features acquired Obsession out of TIFF in September 2025 for a reported $14 million (again, the New Yorker piece says $15 million), which is a separate cost from production that the studio has already recovered many times over.
The film is tracking to surpass $100 million domestically.
Obsession And The Original Horror Genre
Obsession is here against the backdrop of a broader and genuinely encouraging shift in what original horror can achieve commercially and critically.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners demonstrated that audiences would turn out in force for a horror film with no franchise precedent behind it, earning Oscar nominations and significant awards traction alongside strong box office returns.
The past two years have produced a smorgasbord of horror films — The Substance, Weapons, Sinners, Nosferatu, and Frankenstein — that broke through to Oscar nominations and wins. Obsession is the latest data point in that changing trajectory, and its box office performance is perhaps the most striking of all of them given the scale of the budget involved.
On the awards front, the conversation has centred almost entirely on Inde Navarrette.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 11: Inde Navarrette attends the Los Angeles Special Screening of Focus Features’ “Obsession” at the Hollywood Legion Theater on May 11, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brianna Bryson/FilmMagic)
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Variety described her performance as one that “demands awards attention,” drawing direct comparisons to the horror performances that recently broke through at the Academy (including Michael B. Jordan in Sinners) while acknowledging that genre bias and the film’s early May release remain structural obstacles.
Why Obsession Worked Against The Odds
The consensus among industry analysts is that organic word of mouth drove the film’s growth. Focus Features did not spend heavily on marketing oer se and the buzz built through genuine audience enthusiasm as opposed to the juggernaut marketing machines of, say, a Devil Wears Prada 2.
The film counter-programmed against The Mandalorian and Grogu, which went up to $102 million over Memorial Day weekend, and held its own. Rising newcomer Inde Navarrette’s performance as Nikki has been consistently cited as a driving factor in the word-of-mouth spread. Barker’s own origin story — from an $800 YouTube short to a film grossing nearly $80 million — generated significant press coverage that kept new audiences discovering it throughout the week. A viral stunt featuring in-character billboards in Los Angeles and New York bearing a phone number attributed to Nikki also kept the film in conversation online.
Obsession’s Success And What It Means For Curry Barker Next
Barker has already been hired to direct A24’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot. His next film, Anything But Ghosts, starring Aaron Paul, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Violet McGraw, is currently in post-production with Focus and Blumhouse attached. Obsession continues its theatrical run through the Memorial Day weekend.