Obsession, the $750,000 horror-romance from Focus Features, has become one of the most unlikely theatrical success stories of 2026. Directed by 26-year-old filmmaker Curry Barker, the film has continued to defy expectations weeks after its May 15 release, racking up numbers that rival films with budgets hundreds of times larger.
According to industry tracker Box Office Mojo, the film opened to $17.2 million from 2,615 theaters and has shown remarkable staying power ever since, a rarity for the horror genre, which typically sees steep drop-offs after the opening weekend.
A record-breaking run for Focus Features
According to Deadline, Obsession has officially become Focus Features’ highest-grossing release of all time, crossing $224.7 million worldwide and surpassing the studio’s previous record holder, 2019’s “Downton Abbey,” which earned $194.7 million globally.
The film also reportedly topped horror classics such as Get Out, Us, Evil Dead Rise, and Annabelle Comes Home in the process, according to the outlet’s box office update. Reports from The Hollywood Reporter noted that the film’s second-weekend performance left analysts stunned, with Comscore’s chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian saying he had “virtually no comps” for what he was witnessing after more than three decades of tracking the industry.
Variety pegged the film’s domestic haul at $58.5 million through its first two weeks, helped by a second-weekend gross of $23.9 million, nearly 39% higher than its opening number.
Notably, the outlet pointed out, none of this came from IMAX or other premium screens.
Instead, Focus leaned hard on a scrappy, street-level marketing push, plastering Los Angeles and New York with billboards “written” from the perspective of the film’s lead character, Nikki, whose increasingly eerie messages helped fuel online buzz before the movie even opened.
Outpacing blockbusters on a fraction of the budget
Some of the wildest comparisons have come from coverage stacking Obsession’s numbers against full-blown studio tentpoles. The Wrap pointed out that on day 25 in theaters, Obsession actually out-earned both Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens on their respective 25th days, $4.2 million versus $3.2 million and $3.1 million.
ComicBasics flagged a similar milestone domestically: Obsession has now pulled ahead of Disney and Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian & Grogu at the U.S. box office, despite that film’s far heftier budget. Per Variety’s latest figures, Obsession’s domestic total is closing in on $190 million, while Box Office Mojo’s data puts the worldwide tally past $234.5 million.
None of this is lost on people who track the industry for a living — horror has always punched above its weight financially, but a sub-$1 million movie clearing nine figures globally is rare even by genre standards. At this point, Obsession’s cost-to-revenue ratio probably beats every other wide release this year, and it’s a reminder that a good hook and word-of-mouth can still move more tickets than a nine-figure ad budget.