Obsession Just Repeated Spielberg's Record Box Office Run

Right, so here’s something you don’t see every weekend—a scrappy little horror film doing the sort of box office gymnastics we haven’t witnessed since the days of E.T. Yes, seriously. Curry Barker’s psychological thriller Obsession is confounding basically everyone who thought they understood how the summer cinema game is played.

Surging When It Should Be Sinking

Most films open big and then gradually fizzle out, especially once you’ve got a couple of weekends under your belt. Obsession isn’t interested in playing by those rules. Since dropping in cinemas, it’s actually increased its takings week-on-week. Here's how that shakes out:

• First weekend: $17.1 million (pretty surprising for an indie horror to begin with)
• Second weekend: $23.9 million (already an eyebrow-raiser)
• Third weekend: $26.4 million (yes, you read that in the right order)

This isn’t just good, it’s historical. The last time a movie gained momentum like this after opening weekend was Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial—as in, forty-odd years ago.

What Happens Fourth Time Round?

Now, projections for the fourth weekend say Obsession might bring in another $20.9 million on the domestic front (for 5–7 June). To be clear, that would make its fourth frame bigger than the first, if a little lower than the previous two weekends.

But genuinely, no-one knows where this is heading next. BoxOfficeTheory—who make these calls—have actually given up pretending they can predict it, saying, 'Look, at this point, everyone’s guess is as good as the next.'

Industry analyst Jeff Bock (Exhibitor Relations, quoted by Variety) puts it like this:

'This should empower the industry. There’s a new audience, and they’re waiting for this kind of content. We knew indie horror was hot, but we didn’t know how hot. It’s actually competing with the big summer blockbusters.'

To add to the fun, the most recent Friday and Saturday saw box office surges higher than the same days last week—so the upward trend isn’t done yet. It’s impossible to say if it’ll keep smashing expectations by the time the weekend verdict is in.

The Competition and the Chaos

Of course, Obsession isn’t the only game in town this weekend. There are three significant new releases gunning for attention:

• Scary Movie reboot (forecast: $50.4 million)
• Masters of the Universe (forecast: $29.6 million)
• The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act (forecast: $12 million)

On top of that, a couple of ongoing heavy hitters are set to taper off pretty dramatically, if predictions hold:

• A24’s Backrooms – expected to rake in $26.9 million, which would be a whopping 67% drop from last weekend
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu – aiming for $11 million, a 55% drop

Breaking Records for Fun

Regardless of what happens next weekend, Obsession is already making history. The film is approaching $200 million at the global box office (as of 5 June, it’s sitting at $166 million). If it can leap the $300 million barrier, it’ll be the first film under a $1 million budget to do that since Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon back in 1973.

Due to this genuinely mental run, Focus Features has yanked the film’s digital streaming release from the calendar—it was meant to land online 2 June. Normally, Universal likes to get films home about 17 days after the cinema debut, but Obsession is getting the star treatment: the digital window is being stretched to 45 days, something usually reserved for Hollywood’s big guns. So, expect to see it landing on Peacock sometime early July instead.

What’s Next for Barker?

Not one to waste momentum, director Curry Barker isn’t sitting around. Chris Reinacher has joined his next film, Anything but Ghosts, which will operate inside the same universe as Obsession. Oh, and Barker's also been tapped by A24 to reboot the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. Not a bad haul, really.