LOS ANGELES, Calif. — After failing to secure a theatrical distributor for his previous found-footage project, 26-year-old director Curry Barker has achieved unprecedented cinematic success with his microbudget horror film, Obsession. Acquired by Focus Features for a record-breaking $15 million at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, the film has defied conventional horror trajectories to become the studio’s highest-grossing film domestically and worldwide, dethroning Downton Abbey, according to video reporting by Looper.
Made for roughly $750,000, Obsession has hauled in a staggering $161.2 million stateside and an additional $73.3 million overseas as of June 9th, according to Looper. Ahead of its May 15th release, Focus Features predicted a modest $8 to $10 million opening, but the film ultimately took home $17 million in its first three days.
Primtimer noted in a Facebook post:
‘OBSESSION’ has crossed $286.5 million at the global box office. It is the highest-grossing release of all time for Focus Features.
Paul Tassi of Forbes wrote:
It is abundantly clear now that we have one of the biggest cinematic success stories of 2026 in the form of Obsession, the highly scored horror film among both critics and audiences that is about to hit two extremely impressive milestones.The key here is “word of mouth.” Obsession already did well its opening weekend, putting up $17 million domestically, arriving in third place behind only blockbusters like Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2. But after that? Obsession immediately started winning the box office every weekday, and now, that leads into this weekend.
Obsession follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a young man whose magical wish for his crush Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to love him backfires — turning her affection into a dangerous, uncontrollable obsession. Navarrette’s performance has drawn early awards buzz for its nuanced portrayal of a character who is simultaneously the film’s villain and its most sympathetic figure, Variety wrote.
Curry Barker is an American filmmaker, comedian, and screenwriter best known for directing the horror films Milk & Serial (2024) and Obsession (2025). The Mobile, Alabama native also co-created the sketch comedy YouTube channel “that’s a bad idea” alongside Cooper Tomlinson. Barker, born in 1999, has cited an early viewing of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at age 11 as the moment that sparked his interest in horror filmmaking.
Looper is a YouTube-based entertainment channel covering film, television, and pop culture, from major franchises like the MCU, DCEU, and Star Wars to niche genres including anime and manga. Content focuses on Easter eggs, behind-the-scenes breakdowns, movie mistakes, deleted scenes, and reality TV deep dives.
.
