MOVIE NEWS – Obsession started as a tiny indie horror movie, but its box office run is now heading into territory that could make it one of the most profitable films ever made. Curry Barker’s feature debut is also making the old studio equation look ugly, especially when micro-budget horror is outperforming franchise machines built for far more money.

Obsession, an indie horror movie directed by 26-year-old YouTuber Curry Barker, opened in theaters on Friday, May 15, and has since produced the kind of box office pattern studios rarely see. The film earned more in its third weekend than in its second, and more in its second than in its first, which is an unusual trajectory in the movie business. At the moment, it has earned $104 million at the domestic box office and $148 million worldwide, while Discussing Film projects that it could climb past $250 million before its theatrical run is over.

That would be a strong result for almost any movie, but it is especially staggering for Obsession, which was made for somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million. Using the lower figure, the film could ultimately make roughly 333 times its production budget, an extraordinary return on investment. For context, James Cameron’s Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.92 billion worldwide, but it cost $237 million to make, meaning it earned about 12.33 times its budget at the box office. Avatar generated far more pure profit, obviously, but it does not come close to matching Obsession on ROI.

Even so, Obsession still has ground to cover before it catches some of the most absurdly profitable horror movies ever released. The Blair Witch Project was made for around $200,000 in 1999 and earned $248.6 million at the box office, which means it brought in roughly 1,243 times its budget. Paranormal Activity is another monster in the same conversation: the 2007 film cost around $215,000 to make after later adjustments pushed it beyond its initial $15,000 budget, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and it grossed $193.35 million. That works out to about 899 times its budget.

Obsession is not even the only YouTuber-driven indie horror movie currently crushing it in theaters. Backrooms, from director Kane Parsons, opened this weekend and has already made $81 million domestically and $118 million worldwide on a budget of just $10 million. Meanwhile, Disney’s big-budget Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu cost $165 million and has earned $246 million worldwide. That is not a bad number on the surface, but the common industry rule is that a movie usually needs to make around two to 2.5 times its production budget to break even once marketing costs are taken into account. Obsession and Backrooms have cleared that bar with ease, while The Mandalorian and Grogu is not there yet, and with its box office total dropping 70% in its second weekend, per Variety, it may never reach that point.

This could be a turning point for Hollywood. Studios have spent years pouring money into huge IP mega-franchises, while audiences are now loudly showing that they will also buy tickets for fresh horror ideas from hungry young directors. Prestige horror has become an especially safe bet. Last year, original horror films such as Sinners and Weapons became major hits, and Weapons feels like it shares some DNA with the current rise of Obsession and Backrooms. It was made for a comparatively modest $38 million and went on to earn a healthy $270 million worldwide.

At the end of the day, Hollywood follows the money, and right now the money is not pointing only toward nine-figure franchise machinery. The success of Obsession is especially hard to dismiss because it is cheap, growing weekend to weekend, powered by word of mouth, and clearly connecting with a younger audience. If the film really does push beyond $250 million worldwide, Barker’s horror debut will not merely be a surprise hit. It will be another blunt reminder that studios sometimes win not by spending more, but by betting sharper.

Source: MovieWeb