<\/p>\n
\u201cObsession\u201d is, well, the obsession of the box office.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s after the low-budget horror film earned $22 million from 2,655 North American theaters in its second<\/em> weekend and a projected $28.2 million through the Memorial Day holiday. Those ticket sales are 30% above its debut<\/a> (an impressive $17.2 million from 2,615 cinemas) \u2014 a virtually unprecedented increase for a movie that was already in wide release. It\u2019s especially uncommon for horror, a genre that\u2019s notorious for falling sharply after opening weekend.<\/p>\n More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really unheard of. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever seen a movie have a jump like this in weekend two,\u201d says Comscore\u2019s head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian, who has covered the box office for more than 30 years. \u201cIt\u2019s indicative of audiences embracing the film.\u201d<\/p>\n And a sign of exceptionally strong word-of-mouth. In another rarity for scary movies, audiences and critics have been enthusiastic about \u201cObsession,\u201d evidenced by the film\u2019s \u201cA-\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Only five other horror movies, including last year\u2019s breakout \u201cWeapons,\u201d have secured an \u201cA-\u201d grade or higher since 2019. (The genre is prone to disappointing grades because moviegoers tend to leave the theater feeling deeply disturbed.) YouTube breakout Curry Barker directed the R-rated \u201cObsession,\u201d which follows a hopeless romantic named Bear who makes a Faustian bargain to win his crush Nikki\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used to say that horror movies would open on Friday and die on Saturday,\u201d Dergarbedian said. \u201cBeing in a movie theater has so much appeal, but a lot of prior horror movies were terrible. People would see them, realize they were awful and never go back.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a recent shift with original horror hits, including Blumhouse\u2019s \u201cM3GAN\u201d and \u201cThe Black Phone,\u201d director Zach Cregger\u2019s \u201cBarbarian\u201d and \u201cWeapons,\u201d Neon\u2019s \u201cLonglegs\u201d and A24\u2019s \u201cTalk to Me\u201d \u2014 all of which defied conventional wisdom by not<\/em> falling off a cliff after opening weekend. Younger audiences have been key in the genre\u2019s enviable hot streak. That was true in the case of \u201cObsession,\u201d with 75% of audiences between 18 and 25 years old, according to PostTrak.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a new generation of moviegoers who are declaring a\u00a0very specific taste for horror movies that is quite left-of-center,\u201d says Jason Blum, whose backed many of those successes and produced \u201cObsession\u201d through his company Blumhouse-Atomic Monster. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of concern about theatrical, and this is a real new growth area.\u201d<\/p>\n Focus Features, which is distributing the film, opted against a platform release \u2014 a method that\u2019s typically used for indies or original IP as a way to build awareness. Instead, the company launched \u201cObsession\u201d in 2,000 theaters nationwide.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a more commercial play,\u201d says Lisa Bunnell, head of distribution at Focus Features.\u00a0Repeat business, particularly in Los Angeles, is behind the exceptional hold at the box office. She notes that unlike several recent big-budget blockbusters, \u201cObsession\u201d is defying box office expectations without<\/em> Imax or other pricer premium format screens. \u201cThis movie is doing it the old-fashioned, classic theatrical way.\u201d<\/p>\n Before opening weekend, Focus stoked excitement by crafting a commercial to buy One Wish Willows, the magical device at the center of the film that grants Bear his terror-inducing wish \u2014 and the product sold out within hours. Then the studio\u2019s marketing department built on the buzz through cryptic billboards across Los Angeles and New York, featuring Nikki\u2019s increasingly unsettling and obsessive texts, voice notes and deliveries, alongside a phone number inviting them to reach out.<\/p>\n Attendance tends to stall from Monday to Thursday, but \u201cObsession\u201d managed to actually get people to theaters during the weekday. Despite the options of \u201cMichael,\u201d \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d or other higher-profile releases, \u201cObsession\u201d was No. 1 in North America on Monday ($2.9 million), Tuesday ($3.6 million), Wednesday ($3.2 million) and Thursday ($3.3 million) \u2014 before Disney\u2019s \u201cStar Wars\u201d spinoff \u201cThe Mandalorian and Grogu\u201d landed and, as expected, claimed first place over the weekend. So far, \u201cObsession\u201d has generated $58.5 million in North America and $74 million worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cThe movie has been outperforming any comps,\u201d Bunnell says. \u201cAt this point, we\u2019re optimistic of what\u2019s going to happen but don\u2019t have a set number in mind because it\u2019s gone way beyond expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n Blum doesn\u2019t know how long \u201cObsession\u201d will play in theaters before landing on digital platforms, but he mentioned it\u2019s a \u201cbig topic of conversation at the moment.\u201d Blum adds that he\u2019s a \u201cbig believer in a long, consistent theatrical window.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great the audience is aware of it. You would think they would say, \u2018I want to buy it at home.\u2019 But they\u2019re actually cheering for the movie to stay in theaters longer.\u201d he says. \u201cPeople cherish the theatrical experience, and they\u2019re willing to give up the convenience of seeing something at home to keep their local theater alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cObsession\u201d was produced for less than $1 million and will easily become one of the year\u2019s most profitable releases. Focus Features acquired the movie at Toronto Film Festival for $14 million and will enjoy scary-good profit margins, too. And exhibitors will be delighted to know that Focus is already on board to debut Barker\u2019s next film \u201cAnything But Ghosts.\u201d The film, starring Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard, recently wrapped production; a release date hasn\u2019t been set.<\/p>\n Barker, a first-time director, is part of a subset of YouTube creators who have achieved mainstream success at the box office. Earlier this year, YouTuber Markiplier (whose real name is Mark Fischback) directed, self-financed and distributed the horror film \u201cIron Lung,\u201d which earned a stellar $50 million against a $3 million budget. And next weekend\u2019s sci-fi thriller \u201cBackrooms,\u201d from YouTube breakout Kane Parsons and A24, is poised for breakout status.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the dream scenario for movie theaters,\u201d Dergarabedian says. \u201cRather than small screen being adversarial, it can be additive and complimentary. If these YouTube creators can bring the audience from their laptop to the movie theater, that\u2019s huge. Everyone is asking: How can movie theaters build their audience? Maybe, ironically, it\u2019s the small screen.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cObsession\u201d is, well, the obsession of the box office. That\u2019s after the low-budget horror film earned $22 million from 2,655 North American theaters in its second weekend and a projected $28.2 million through the Memorial Day holiday. Those ticket sales are 30% above its debut (an impressive $17.2 million from 2,615 cinemas) \u2014 a virtually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2431823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[329323,362751,26980,344723,342107,352887,23844],"class_list":["post-2431822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-horror-film","tag-jason-blum","tag-movie-theater","tag-opening-weekend","tag-paul-dergarabedian","tag-scary-movies","tag-youtube"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/How-\u2018Obsession-Became-an-Unprecedented-Box-Office-Horror-Hit-\u2014.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2431822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431824,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2431822\/revisions\/2431824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2431822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2431822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2431822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}