‘Obsession,’ Made For $750,000, Crosses $400 Million At Box Office

"Obsession" key art featuring Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette.

Focus Features

Obsession, the blockbuster horror thriller starring Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston, hit another major box office milestone over the weekend.

Written and directed by YouTube filmmaker Curry Barker (Milk & Serial), Obsession is arguably the biggest success story coming out of Hollywood in 2026. The first big win for the film, which had a $750,000 production budget, was when it was acquired for about $15 million by Focus Features at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

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Also starring Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter, Obsession tells the twisted tale of Bear (Johnston), whose wish for Nikki (Navarrette) to love him more than anyone in the world comes with deadly, unintended consequences.

The film opened in theaters with an impressive $17.1 million from 3,016 North American theaters on May 15, only to eclipse the film’s domestic opening take over the next four weekends.

On June 8, Obsession became the highest-grossing film released by Focus Features, and less than a week later, became the highest-grossing film festival acquisition of all time when its worldwide box office total surpassed the 1999 indie horror classic The Blair Witch Project. Not adjusted for inflation, The Blair Witch Project earned $248.3 million at the worldwide box office in 1999.

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‘Obsession’s’ Running Worldwide Box Office Tally Stands At $403 Million

Five days after the film made its debut on digital streaming via premium video on demand, Obsession has added to its list of crowning achievements. According to Deadline, Obsession earned an estimated $5.3 million from 2,640 North American theaters this weekend, which boosts the film’s domestic gross to $245.3 million.

Combined with the film’s international ticket sales of $157.7 million, Obsession’s worldwide box office tally as of Sunday stands at $403 million.

Meanwhile, Obsession in its first week of release on PVOD has already topped three streaming charts in the U.S. on three major digital platforms: Apple TV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video.

Obsession, of course, is the first of two indie horror movie sensations to dominate the worldwide box office this summer. YouTube director Kane Parsons’ liminal spaces horror thriller Backrooms defied pre-release projections with an $81.4 million take its opening weekend May 29-31.

Since then, the A24 film has earned $190.4 million domestically and $159.3 million internationally for a global box office tally of $349.7 million. An extended cut of the Backrooms, which added 16 minutes to the original film, was released over the weekend and made $3.3 million domestically for a No. 7 finish at the domestic box office, behind Obsession at No. 6.

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