The indie romance-horror film "Obsession" is projected to reach $79.7 million at the global box office after an unusual 30 percent revenue increase in its second weekend.
Distributed by Focus Features, the movie cost between $750,000 and $1 million to produce.
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According to Box Office Mojo, $58.5 million of the projected total comes from North American theaters.
The film earned $17.2 million from 2,615 theaters during its opening weekend, surpassing initial industry projections of $10 million to $12 million.
It then brought in $28.2 million in its second weekend, driven by an immersive viral marketing campaign and positive word of mouth.
Executive producer Jason Blum highlighted the historical significance of the film's theatrical trajectory, noting that such growth between the first and second weeks is highly unusual for horror.
"Obsession is the ONLY wide-release horror film on record to grow in its second weekend at this scale — $22.4M, up 30% over opening," Blum wrote on X Sunday.
"This doesn’t happen in horror," he added.
Focus Features vice chairman Jason Cassidy explained that the distributor intentionally structured its promotional strategy around the established online community of director Curry Barker.
Barker and co-star Cooper Tomlinson previously built a digital audience of over 1 million followers through their YouTube sketch channel, "that's a bad idea."
"What’s so great about Curry is he’s so native to his digital world and he knows his voice and his community, and we absolutely wanted to tap into that," said Cassidy.
The studio leveraged this digital engagement through interactive campaigns, including cryptic billboards in Los Angeles and New York alongside specialty merchandise sales.
"This is a group that has been online their whole life and likes to participate in stuff, and that’s vital to the experience of this," Cassidy added.
Focus Features purchased the distribution rights to "Obsession" for $15 million following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The narrative centers on a music store employee named Bear, played by Michael Johnston, who wishes for his co-worker Nikki, played by Inde Navarrette, to fall in love with him, sparking a dangerous fixation.
Barker, the 26-year-old filmmaker who shot the movie in 20 days, expressed surprise at the rapid mainstream acquisition and commercial outcome.
"When we made ‘Obsession,’ we had no idea what was going to happen," Barker said in a video interview last week.
The director mentioned that his public confidence during production was primarily a leadership responsibility to motivate the cast and crew.
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"As the leader of the ship, I had to tell the people: ‘This is going to be huge.
You guys have to give this a year, because it’s going to be something special.’ But that’s just because that’s my job, to champion the movie.
Really, I had no idea. ...
It was insane when we even just got into TIFF," Barker explained.
The filmmaker attributed the growing crossover success of online creators to a shifting perspective within the traditional Hollywood studio system regarding digital video platforms.
"We’re finally getting to the point where people are like, OK, fine, I’ll put my film on YouTube," said Barker.
He contrasted this current climate with his past experiences in film school, where online distribution was viewed as an unfavorable backup plan.
"Versus when I was in film school, that was kind of like a last resort. People didn’t want to put their stuff on YouTube.
They wanted to go the festival route. I was like, screw it.
You know, just put it on YouTube and see what happens," Barker added.
Following the box office success of "Obsession," Barker has partnered with A24 to direct a reimagining of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
He is also developing a separate upcoming film project titled "Anything But Ghosts."
"The opportunities that I have right now are pretty insane," said Barker.
The director concluded by outlining his personal approach to managing his sudden career advancement.
"But I’m just trying to keep my head down and focus on what’s important to me, you know?"
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Barker stated.
