NEW YORK (AP) — Just days before his movie hit theaters, 26-year-old director Curry Barker struck a friendly wager with his manager and agent: if “Obsession” opened above $20 million at the box office, they would all get tattoos.
The film came close but missed the mark, debuting at $17 million. Still, nobody was complaining. Barker had made the horror film for just $750,000, making even that opening a remarkable achievement. But what happened next surprised everyone. The second weekend, the film cleared $20 million — and then did it again. And again. And nearly a fourth time, displaying a staying power that is virtually unheard of in the film industry.
“It was just like: Holy cow. I didn’t think that was an option,” Barker said. “Now we’ve said if it hits $300 million, we’ll all get the tattoo. We had to make a new milestone. And I think we’ll reach it.”
Over the past month, “Obsession” has rattled the entertainment industry. The microbudget thriller has now pulled in $286 million worldwide and is still drawing audiences. During its fifth weekend in theaters, it ranked second only to Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” earning $19 million. In North America, it has outperformed “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” It stands as the biggest release in the 24-year history of Focus Features, which has had to push back its video-on-demand release date. By any measure, it ranks among the most profitable films ever produced.
Barker, who cultivated a following through sketches and short films on YouTube, is now living the dream that countless aspiring filmmakers chase. Life, he acknowledged in a recent interview, has changed considerably.
“My day to day is pretty much the same. It’s just that when I go out in public, it’s a lot different,” he said with a laugh. “I actually feel a little unsafe sometimes.”
That’s a somewhat ironic turn for the man behind a film that has been frightening audiences across the country. In “Obsession,” a character named Bear Bailey (played by Michael Johnston) uses an antique toy called a One Wish Willow to wish that his crush, Nikki (played by Inde Navarrette), would fall in love with him. The spell — loosely drawn from an old “Simpsons” Halloween episode — works in deeply unsettling ways.
The film’s remarkable run has sparked widespread conversation across Hollywood. Alongside the A24 hit “Backrooms,” directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, it has highlighted YouTube as a launching pad for the next wave of filmmakers.
The film has also drawn younger Gen Z audiences — already a significant and growing portion of regular moviegoers — back into theaters. Summer box office has long been ruled by established franchises, but “Obsession” may signal a shift in that trend.
“If there’s a lesson from ‘Obsession,’ I think it’s about audiences,” said Peter Kujawski, chairman of Focus Features. “We have a generation that grew up online, approaches culture with enormous curiosity and playfulness, and is far less concerned with where a filmmaker comes from than whether the story connects. They’re engaged, incredibly film-literate and eager to champion new voices and original stories.”
Barker grew up in Mobile, Alabama, before relocating to Los Angeles at age 18. He says he feels a deep connection to his generation and believes the response to “Obsession” speaks to something many young people are feeling.
“I get it because I think we’re a little tired of being at home. Our generation is the COVID generation,” Barker said. “I was fortunate enough to have all four years of high school experience. My brother, Riley, lost two years of that. We’re sick of the phones.”
Before filmmaking, Barker had dreams of becoming an actor. An early encounter with “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” at age 11 helped steer him toward horror, though his earliest passions were quite different.
“I was a huge Harry Potter fan growing up. Huge. I was obsessed,” Barker said with a smile. “I had all the wands. I would dress up.”
Barker spent a year at a Los Angeles film school, where he connected with Cooper Tomlinson, who would later become a co-star and producer on “Obsession.” The two eventually charted their own course on YouTube and TikTok, building an audience through a comedy sketch series called “That’s a Bad Idea.”
Barker wrote and directed a 2023 short film called “The Chair,” which caught the attention of Tea Shop Productions. Producer James Harris approached him about expanding it into a feature, but Barker had a different idea — he wanted to make “Obsession,” a film that drew on similar themes. Around the same time, he also produced an $800 found-footage horror film called “Milk & Serial.” When he couldn’t find a distributor, he uploaded it directly to YouTube. It went viral and earned him representation.
“Obsession” was selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, giving it a prestigious platform. A bidding war followed, and Kujawski and Focus Features ultimately acquired the film for $15 million.
“What stands out about Curry is that he isn’t working from an inherited playbook,” Kujawski said. “Whether you look at his earlier work or ‘Obsession,’ there’s a consistency of vision and a confidence in his storytelling that immediately sets him apart. He knows exactly what he wants to say while being absolutely committed to making every minute of his work as entertaining as possible, and he’s willing to take real risks in service of that vision.”
Barker’s rapid rise has made him a symbol of a new kind of filmmaker — one who sharpened his skills as a digital creator and arrived in Hollywood with a built-in fan base. Jason Blum, the chief executive of Blumhouse Productions, has drawn comparisons between Barker and his peers and the generation of bold American filmmakers who emerged in the 1970s, describing them as “making edgy movies that are connecting in theaters in a crazy way.”
“When you really step back, my journey is not really that different than Christopher Nolan or David Fincher or Steven Spielberg,” Barker said. “You can watch their early short films and see their work before they were given a chance. I think YouTube is just a path, a platform we can use now to show the industry what we’ve got.”
Today, Barker is among the most in-demand directors working in Hollywood. He has already completed his next feature, “Anything But Ghosts,” starring Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard, for Blumhouse. Two months ago, A24 announced that he will write and direct a reboot of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Adjusting to the spotlight has been a process. Acclaimed directors including Ari Aster, Zach Cregger, and even Spielberg have reached out personally to praise the film.
“That’s when you start to feel this impostor syndrome of like: What? It’s not that good,” Barker said with a laugh. “All I see when I watch ‘Obsession’ is the problems.”
A sequel is essentially already a given. “A sequel isn’t hard for this movie,” Barker acknowledged. He described how future installments could follow different characters making wishes on One Wish Willows, each story centered on a different human vice — greed, fame, or something else entirely.
As much as it might be tempting to draw parallels between Barker’s success and the wish-granting premise of his own film, the reality is closer to the opposite. In “Obsession,” the main character’s fatal flaw is hesitation — waiting too long to act on his feelings, assuming there will always be more time. Barker, by contrast, never waited. He wanted to make films, so he made them.
“Anyone that asks what advice you have for young filmmakers, I always say the same thing,” Barker said. “I went to a film school for a year out in L.A. and I watched people paralyze themselves with the pressure of: I’ve told people I’m a director so now I have to direct something that has to be good. If it’s not good, everyone’s going to judge me. The result of that thinking is two years on one short film.”
“You can’t put too much pressure on an idea,” he added. “You just got to make it.”
