Obsession continues to set records, adding to the pile it’s already stacked up over the past few weeks. The latest is that with just a 7% drop this past weekend, that makes it the highest-earning horror movie fourth weekend ever, this coming after two weeks in a row of unprecedented increases in earnings.
Obsession’s $224 million haul has sailed by Paranormal Activity’s $193 million, the 2007 low-budget horror miracle. Almost without question, it will also pass The Blair Witch Project’s $248 million. Projections now say that Obsession may end its run at around $300 million. But with its current figures and reported $750,000 budget, the film has now made 330x times its budget, one of the highest multiples in history, alongside those aforementioned horror films.
The long tail of Obsession will be possible thanks to Blumhouse’s recent decision not to cut its theatrical release. Original reports said that Obsession was meant to come to digital a week ago, on June 2, but with these astonishing holds/increases, that has been put off indefinitely.
The next potential date would be a month after its May 15 release, next week, but even that seems too soon. Rather, a more traditional 45-day theatrical window is the most likely, given what we’re seeing here. There is the desire to put it on digital to rake in even more cash, given that rentals/purchases there are often $20/25 with no cut going to theaters. Coming to an actual streaming service for “free” would be many months away.
Obsession has rocketed its two main contributors into the stratosphere. Director Curry Barker is moving on to his next horror movie, Anything But Ghosts, a horror comedy starring himself and Obsession veteran Cooper Tomlinson, along with big names like Bryce Dallas Howard and Aaron Paul.
Nikki herself, Inde Naverrette, has become an instant superstar, with awards buzz around her role and being blasted all over the media from magazine photoshoots to viral late-night interviews. Social media has time-warped back to her past, surfacing clips of her streaming Call of Duty. And she’s quite good. She has two movies which were already lined up before Obsession, Kids of the Black Hole and Invertigo, in post-production, but it’s clear she’ll be pursued relentlessly for other projects. She’s expressed interest in starring in Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming Fourth Wing TV series as its lead, Violet Sorrengail. I’m sure Amazon would not mind locking her down for several seasons of a big new TV show, but there’s no news on that front yet.
What records will Obsession break next? It’s not clear how many are even left, but we’ll see what its theatrical run earns when all is said and done.
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