Topline
“Obsession,” the breakout horror blockbuster directed by former YouTuber Curry Barker, grossed another $19 million at the box office for its fifth weekend in theaters, according to early numbers reported by the Hollywood trade publications—blowing past recent releases like “Masters of the Universe” and “Scary Movie.”
The low budget horror phenomenon grossed another $19 million at North American theaters—its fourth week in a row outperforming its box office debut.
FilmMagic
Key Facts
“Obsession” grossed another $19 million at North American theaters over the weekend—the fourth weekend in a row it has outperformed its opening gross of $17.2 million.
The weekend gross was higher than both “Scary Movie” and “Masters of the Universe”—two larger budget releases that opened in theaters last week.
The film had a reported budget of $750,000 and has now grossed about $188.3 million in North America and $265 million globally—making it the most successful film at the box office ever released from distributor Focus Features.
The horror flick is still getting top marks from its viewers—it has a 94% positive rating from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned another A- on Cinemascore based on surveys conducted after screenings.
TANGENT
“Backrooms,” another lower budget horror film directed by a former YouTuber that had a breakout debut three weeks ago, extended its streak of success over the weekend with an $11.2 million gross—also putting it ahead of studio films with huge budgets like “Masters of the Universe” and “The Mandalorian and Grogu.”
Spielberg Scores Another Hit
Steven Spielberg’s alien thriller “Disclosure Day” opened with a respectable $44 million gross to top the domestic box office. It also grossed another $48.9 million from international theaters for a global gross of $92.9 million. That puts it slightly ahead of the $41 million domestic opening from Spielberg’s last big budget blockbuster—2018’s “Ready Player One.” However, it remains to be seen if “Disclosure Day” will connect with audiences to make back its reported production budget of $115 million and marketing budget of $80 million. The film only received a “B” Cinemascore from audiences, and has a 73% viewer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Since theaters keep about half of ticket sale proceeds, “Disclosure Day” will need to gross about $300 million at the box office to recoup its budget, Variety reported. “Ready Player One” ultimately grossed $583.4 million at theaters in 2018, according to data from Box Office Mojo.