Curry Barker's 'Obsession' Debuts With $21 Million; had a micro budget of $750K

Another triumph for original cinema, and in particular, horror.

Focus Features y Blumhouse released this weekend in theaters, the psychological horror thriller Obsessionfrom the screenwriter and director Curry Barkerexceeding all expectations.

With a domestic box office premiere of $16.1 million dollars, Obsession It remained in third place at the box office, behind Michael ($26.1 mdd) y The Devil Wears Prada 2 ($18 million), leaving behind projections that estimated a launch of no more than $15 million.

In the international market it added another $4.9 million dollars, to add a $21 million global debut.

When we add the context of an original horror film being released at the start of the summer movie season, it is a total success. When we add that The project had a micro budget of less than one million dollars. –there are those who estimate that the production cost was $750,000– the impact is even greater.

• This means that, he already made 20 times his budgetonly in its first weekend on the billboard.

The feature film celebrated its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025, in the Midnight section, captivating the audience, and subsequently selling out the screenings at the Fantastic Fest, in addition to winning the coveted Audience Award at the Sitges. Focus Features acquired it after its premiere at TIFF, for a deal valued at $14 million.

In addition to a highly effective marketing campaign, word of mouth has been extremely positive for Obsession.

The film centers on a hopeless romantic who breaks the mysterious “Wishing Willow” to win the heart of the girl he likes. He soon gets exactly what he asked for, but quickly discovers that his desires will come with a sinister price.

The main cast includes Michael Johnston (Teen Wolf), Inside Navarrette (Superman and Lois), Cooper Tomlinson (Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Girl from Plainville), y Andy Richter (Conan).

Producers are James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, and Roman Varis, with Teashop Productions, Under the Shell, Capstone Pictures. Executive producers include Blumhouse's Jason Blum, Leonora Darby, Mark Lane, David Haring and Ruzanna Kegeyan.

Barker's next film project, titled Anything But Ghostswill be another production with a home at Blumhouse and Spooky Pictures. Likewise, the filmmaker was recently chosen by A24 as director of a reimagining of the horror franchise The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The horror releases for the month of May do not end here; This weekend of May 22 will be the debut of Passenger de André Øvredal, Corporate Retreat by Aaron Fisher, and Saccharine by Natalie Erika James, while the expected Backrooms by Kane Parsons will close the month premiering on May 29.

Obsession already in cinemas.