{"id":228,"date":"2026-05-25T23:10:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T23:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=228"},"modified":"2026-05-25T23:10:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T23:10:53","slug":"how-an-indie-horror-film-became-a-box-office-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=228","title":{"rendered":"How an indie horror film became a box-office \u2018Obsession\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Curry Barker, a 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-filmmaker, made his horror film \u201cObsession\u201d in just 20 days on a mere $750,000 budget.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=226\">Rep. Thomas Massie files paperwork to run in 2028, says he hasn\u2019t made a \u2018final decision\u2019 about his political future<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now, after its second weekend in theaters, the Focus Features-distributed movie is on track to earn more than 100 times that amount, with an expected $79.7 million haul at the global box office, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks global theatrical totals. Of that projected total, $58.5 million came from North American theaters. (Focus Features is a unit of NBC News\u2019 parent corporation, Comcast.) <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s a feat that even horror film genre heavyweight Jason Blum, who was an executive producer on the film, said is rare. \u201cObsession is the ONLY wide-release horror film on record to grow in its second weekend at this scale \u2014 $22.4M, up 30% over opening,\u201d Blum wrote Sunday on X. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t happen in horror.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The movie is the latest project from a YouTuber to surpass industry expectations. \u201cIron Lung\u201d \u2014 a self-financed indie video game adaptation from Mark Fischbach, better known online as Markiplier \u2014 became a major box office success following its February rollout, helping renew interest in indie projects from online creators. \u201cBackrooms,\u201d an A24 movie from 20-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons, is also looking at a big opening weekend. <\/p>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jason_blum\/status\/2058563587019563325?s=20\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/iframe.nbcnews.com\/J2TwNinv?_showcaption=true&amp;app=1\" title=\"Jason Blum on Twitter \/ X\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>For Barker, the robust theatrical turnout for \u201cObsession\u201d marks another chapter in his wild, fairytale-esque Hollywood story. <\/p>\n<p>Before the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September, Barker was primarily known on YouTube, where he built an audience with projects like \u201cMilk and Serial,\u201d a thriller that follows a duo of YouTube pranksters. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>After \u201cObsession\u201d made its festival debut, studios were so blown away by him that they entered a bidding war for the project, with Focus ultimately acquiring it for $15 million. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=225\">What we know about the chemical tank incident in Southern California \u2014 and what questions still linger<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we made \u2018Obsession,\u2019 we had no idea what was going to happen,\u201d Barker said in a video interview last week. \u201cAs the leader of the ship, I had to tell the people: \u2018This is going to be huge. You guys have to give this a year, because it\u2019s going to be something special.\u2019 But that\u2019s just because that\u2019s my job, to champion the movie. Really, I had no idea. &#8230; It was insane when we even just got into TIFF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The movie, which stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, is a romance-horror that plays on the idea that people should be careful about what \u2014 or who, in this case \u2014 they wish for. On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has amassed a 95% fresh \u201cTomatometer\u201d score from critics and a 94% hot \u201cPopcornmeter\u201d score from audiences. <\/p>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><iframe allow=\"accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;\" allowfullscreen=\"\" clip\"=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UWVznyWUS-E\" date\"=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" nice=\"\" official=\"\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"\/\/iframe.nbcnews.com\/pad5F990?_showcaption=true\" title=\"YouTube, OBSESSION - \"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Asked why he thinks YouTubers are getting more recognition in Hollywood, Barker said he believes filmmakers and producers are \u201cwisening up\u201d about sharing and discovering content on the Google-owned video platform. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re finally getting to the point where people are like, OK, fine, I\u2019ll put my film on YouTube,\u201d he said. \u201cVersus when I was in film school, that was kind of like a last resort. People didn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a bet that clearly paid off, with Hollywood already putting a lot of trust in Barker for his future endeavors. He has another film, titled \u201cAnything But Ghosts,\u201d in the works, and A24 recently tapped him to helm a reimagining of \u201cThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe opportunities that I have right now are pretty insane,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m just trying to keep my head down and focus on what\u2019s important to me, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=224\">Spanish government confirms new case of hantavirus<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Curry Barker, a 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-filmmaker, made his horror film \u201cObsession\u201d in just 20 days on a mere $750,000 budget<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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