Inde Navarrette in “Obsession.”
Focus Features
Curry Barker’s horror movie sensation Obsession set a new record this weekend as it became the highest-grossing film to be acquired by a studio at a film festival.
Obsession opened in theaters nationwide on May 15. In the film, an affable music store clerk named Bear (Michael Johnston) has a crush on his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette) but can’t find the courage to tell her. When Nikki tells Bear that she is leaving town in a couple of weeks to start a new life, he buys her a mysterious, new age novelty gift called a “One Wish Willow.”
When it becomes apparent to Bear that he’s stuck in the friend zone with his crush, he breaks open the gift himself and wishes that Nikki would love him more than anyone in the world. The wish soon comes true, but with unintended consequences because Nikki becomes dangerously obsessed with Bear to the point where things turn deadly.
Written and directed by Barker, Obsession also stars Megan Lawless and Barker’s That’s a Bad Idea collaborator Cooper Tomlinson.
Obsession, which had a production budget of $750,000, was acquired by Focus Features at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival for about $15 million. It was apparent from the film’s opening weekend gross of $17.1 million domestically that Focus’ investment was going to pay off. After that, Obsession’s business leaped an unprecedented 39% upward in its second weekend in theaters and a 14% jump in weekend three, before taking a mere 7% dip in weekend four.
Obsession continued its amazing box office hold in its fifth weekend, earning $19 million at the domestic box office, constituting a 25% drop from last week to boost its running North American tally to $188.3 million.
However, Obsession is also a hit internationally, so the combination of its overseas tickets and domestic take has culminated in a worldwide box office take of $286.4 million through this weekend and, as such, a new box office record for Focus’ horror thriller.
Heather Donahue in a scene from the film ‘The Blair Witch Project’, 1999. (Photo by Lauren Film/Getty Images)
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‘The Blair Witch Project’ Previously Held The Record For Highest-Grossing Film Acquired At A Film Festival
Obsession’s running global tally of $286.4 million breaks the record previously set by found-footage horror thriller The Blair Witch Project, according to Deadline. In an amount not adjusted for inflation, the film earned $248.3 million globally in 1999.
The Blair Witch Project was acquired for $1 million-plus by Artisan Entertainment out of the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, according to the trade publication.
After surpassing the $200 million global box office mark on June 8, Obsession became the highest-grossing film in the history of Focus Features, which is the independent film subsidiary of Universal Pictures.
Rated R, Obsession, which is still awaiting a streaming premiere date, is playing in 3,068 North American theaters and in 59 markets internationally.