For those who have followed the career of Gen Z filmmaker Curry Barker since he began blowing up YouTube, it’s no surprise that his first feature film Obsession is doing the same thing in theaters. The horror film has been in theaters for less than two weeks and has already grossed more than $68 million in North America alone against a minuscule budget of $750,000.
For everyone else, it’s a revelation of epic proportions.
Over the long Memorial Day weekend, the film soared to $23.9 million over the three days, a record 39.4 percent increase from its opening weekend of $17.2 million in 2,615 theaters at the domestic box office. It’s the biggest increase in modern times for a film playing in more than 2,500 theaters outside of the Christmas holidays, and even then, the increase is larger than several popular year-end titles.
Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian is among those stunned, saying there are virtually no comparisons. “I’ve been following and analyzing the box office for 33 years and I thought I’d seen it all until last weekend with the incredible performance of Obsession that required no warnings. A second weekend jump close to 40 percent is virtually unprecedented in the annals of modern box office tracking, and there’s really no direct apples-to-apples comparison available.“
Lisa Bunnell, Focus’ head of distribution, says the specialty house always knew it had something special, but echoes Degarabedian’s observation. “We are at a level we have never seen before and the way he has behaved is scandalous,” he says. THR.
An explanation? To date, 75 percent of the audience is between 18 and 34 years old, a demo group dominated by Generation Z (ages 18 to 29) and younger Millennials. This support can make or break a movie. Generation Z, whose youngest members grew up glued to their screens (not to mention those affected by pandemic restrictions on in-person socializing), is showing an appetite for the collective experience that a movie theater offers.
Obsession has dramatically overperformed from the start, opening well ahead of the $10 million expected to place in third place over the weekend of May 15-17, just behind The Devil Wears Prada 2. And on its first Monday it jumped to number one, where it remained until Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Inaugurated on May 22.
In a kind of discomfort, he won Miguel to take second place over the long Memorial Day holiday, and each day was higher than expected. On Saturday, the peak between weekends (three days) was projected to be 30 percent, which was already a big win. But it widened to a record 39.3 percent.
As for the holiday weekend itself, it was also the only title in the top 10 to enjoy an increase from Sunday to Saturday. And it earned $8 million better than expected on Memorial Day Monday, putting its 11-day domestic cume at $62.4 million. On Tuesday, May 26, he earned another $5.5 million for a domestic tally of $67.9 million as he prepared to officially surpass the $68 million mark on Wednesday, May 27, if not $70 million.
“It’s already one of our highest-grossing movies,” Bunnell says. Focus Top Artists Include Robert Eggers’ Elevated Gothic Horror Film Nosferatuwhich grossed $95.6 million domestically and $181.9 million globally upon its release in late 2024. Downton Abbey is its highest-performing title with $97.8 million domestically and $194.7 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation.
Obsession It’s a blessing for everyone involved. Universal-owned Focus beat out several other bidders, including A24 and Neon, the “cool” independent stores among Generation Z and younger Millennials, by acquiring distribution rights. Obsession from the 2025 Toronto Film Festival for $15 million.
The film is a big win for Focus president Peter Kujawski, an indie veteran who has plenty of experience in acquisitions and release space, as well as access to Universal’s international distribution apparatus. And don’t forget, he was hired by Donna Langley, Universal’s longtime film chief who rose through the ranks to serve as chief content officer of the vast NBCUniversal empire, and who is known for her astute ability to spot and, more importantly, win over emerging talent, including Jordan Peele. He still oversees Universal Pictures and Focus, where Kujawski is also known for his keen eye.
Marketing head Jason Cassidy is also an independent film veteran. The same thing happened with Bunnell, who began to lay the foundation for Obsessionpremiered six months ago, reaching out to both Alamo Drafthouse and AMC Theaters to drum up interest in terms of working together to promote the film. AMC pledged to make an exclusive popcorn bucket, while Alamo donated Obsession top billing for months.
Focus made a big marketing effort overall, including creating replicas of the mysterious novelty item called “One Wish Willow” that is at the heart of the film’s plot about a young man named Bear (Michael Johnston) who uses the item to wish that his lifelong crush, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), loves him more than anyone else in the world. His wish is granted with horrible results that have won over critics, who gave it a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Obsession It is the only title in Focus history that will see its number of theaters increase in its third weekend. Bunnell says 100 theaters will be added over the weekend of May 29-31, bringing the total number of theaters to 2,755 (40 were added last weekend).
“We’re hearing that people are going to see the movie three or four times. It’s leaning a little more toward men, but as we go along there are more women,” Bunnell says.
In terms of its retention, many in the media say the closest comparison is July 2023. sound of freedomthe only non-year-end title to see a second weekend increase in the same area, or 38.6 percent. But that film’s distributor, Utah-based Angel Studios, has come under fire for its unique “pay it forward” business model, through which donors can purchase tickets that viewers can redeem. While most ticket redeemers showed up, a significant number did not.
Dergarabedian agrees that it is difficult to compare the two, since sound of freedom added 413 theaters in its second weekend.
Barker has already filmed his next film, the horror comedy Everything but ghostswhich Focus will also release in association with Universal-based Blumhouse-Atomic Monster and Roy Lee and Steven Schneider’s Spooky Pictures.
Barker has spent the last few years building a fan base on YouTube with his sketch comedy channel. That’s a bad idea and His $800 Found Footage Serial Killer Movie Milk and series. he also has Texas Chainsaw Massacre for A24 waiting in the wings, with the filmmaker signing on to write, direct and produce the new take.
