No box office enthusiast could have predicted the unprecedented performance of Obsession, a psychological horror thriller that became a global cultural phenomenon. Directed by former YouTube creator Curry Barker, the production achieved its massive cultural footprint on a micro-budget of just $750,000. Furthermore, by relying on exceptional word of mouth and a terrifyingly original narrative framework, the feature completely bypassed the need for exorbitant marketing campaigns, securing its position as one of the most profitable motion pictures in history. Even seven weeks after its initial release, the sleeper hit continues to dominate multiplexes, actively expanding its theater count and holding the line against massive studio blockbusters.
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Following the box office results for its seventh weekend, Obsession has officially reached a staggering domestic gross of $233.9 million, dethroning The Exorcist by surpassing the 1973 classic’s legendary $233 million global total. Considering how The Exorcist is often described as the greatest horror movie ever made, that’s a massive milestone. That makes Obsession the fourth-highest-grossing horror movie in the US ever, with the third position going to Jaws with $273.6 million, a mark it will be nearly impossible to reach.
When considering the international box office, though, The Exorcist still holds the 10th position with $430.8 million, while Obsession‘s haul has risen to $370.1 million, giving it the 16th position at the international ranking. Even though Obsession is at the end of its theatrical run, there’s still time to overtake Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which managed to bring in $370.9 million. After that, it feels like a long shot until Prometheus, which sits at $403.3 million.
Obsession Deserves All the Love It Gets
The overwhelming commercial success of Obsession should serve as a necessary wake-up call for an industry frequently bogged down by bloated production budgets and committee-driven creative decisions. That’s because, by operating with less than a million dollars, the production team was afforded the creative freedom. Stripped of the relentless studio pressure that inevitably accompanies massive financial investments, Barker and his collaborators experimented with unconventional pacing and a deeply unsettling tone, and this risk-taking approach yielded a final product that feels distinct from the formulaic releases dominating the current theatrical calendar. Obsession‘s profitability proves that general audiences crave original concepts, especially after the lackluster results of Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu, Masters of the Universe, and, more recently, Supergirl. So, Hollywood would do well to fund more innovative creators rather than endlessly recycling established intellectual properties at a premium cost.
That said, Obsession also highlights a glaring inequity regarding how independent crews are paid. The traditional payment structure dictates that the vast majority of the cast and crew on a micro-budget feature receive modest upfront flat rates, with no additional compensation proportional to box office gains. Meanwhile, recent reports revealed executive producer Jason Blum will receive a massive $17 million box office bonus for his involvement in Obsession, a figure that is dozens of times larger than the original $750,000 budget. In other words, an executive producer is getting over 22 times the salary of every single person who worked in the movie, combined. This massive discrepancy underlines an urgent need for an industry-wide change, as the rewards should be distributed among the people whose labor ensures a movie’s success, rather than solely enriching the executives who boarded the project after it was already completed.
Obsession is currently playing in theaters.
Do you think Hollywood will start giving independent crews a bigger cut of the profits after the success of Obsession? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Forum Conversation: Obsession keep making money… How to you feel about the staff being underpaid?
Go to ForumI say if the cake is big enough everyone should get some cake.
Yeah, that’s my issue. Sure, the people who took the financial risk will get their piece of the cake. But must they get the whole cake? It’s a weird system that doesn’t incentivize workers to care, actually.
The industry is complicated, but honestly, I think it’s kind of wrong for them to not have something set up as a “hey, if this actually works you get more” situation. The right thing to do would be to actually pay the people who make the thing that makes the money. Period. The whole “the people who take the risks get the money” thing has always been sour to me because sure, you take the financial risk… but you could still do the right thing ethically considering your part in it is literally write a check.