Rookie Director Curry Barker Scores Historic Horror Box Office with Obsession

Curry Barker’s debut feature Obsession defies norms by delivering a blockbuster return on a $1 million budget: it opened to $17 million domestically and $23.9 million over Memorial Day, bringing the global total to about $75 million. The horror film also posted a second-weekend rise of roughly 30–39%, a rare feat for a wide-release horror title. Barker, who first drew attention from a YouTube short, has earned praise from Blumhouse’s Jason Blum as the industry watches a new rising talent, even as a younger YouTube-made horror rival—Kane Parsons’s Backrooms—moves toward theaters.