Curry Barker just scored one of the top 5 highest grossing opening weekends for the horror genre here in 2026, with Obsession smashing through all expectations over the weekend.
Obsession opened in 2,615 theaters across the United States beginning in select theaters on Wednesday night, and the film scared up $17.2 million domestically. That gave Obsession a third place spot on the opening weekend charts, behind The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Michael.
The only horror movies this year that debuted higher than Obsession at the U.S. box office were Scream 7 ($63 million), Send Help ($19 million), and Iron Lung ($17.8 million).
Worldwide, Obsession has thus far raked in $21 million.
The craziest part about this whole thing? Curry Barker made Obsession on an estimated production budget of less than $1 million, so it’s already a massive success story on that front.
The only catch is that distributor Focus Features picked up the low-budget independent horror film for around $15 million, with an undisclosed marketing spend on top of that purchase cost. Obsession will likely become profitable for Focus Features in the coming weeks.
Helping matters is that Obsession received an A- CinemaScore, a very rare feat for the horror genre. On Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and users have collectively given it a 94% Fresh score.
Is Curry Barker the future of horror? Well, he will be directing the next installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film franchise, so his future is certainly looking bright at the moment.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Inde Navarrette (“Superman & Lois”) and Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”) star.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Obsession review for Bloody Disgusting, “While Monkey’s Paw scenarios often yield predictable outcomes, and this outcome is practically telegraphed from the start, Curry Barker manages to surprise with the journey itself. And it’s one insane journey paved with blood-soaked violence and no shortage of nightmare fuel.”
