The low-budget horror movie Obsession has certainly won over audiences. Made for just $750,000, the film raked in an impressive $17.2 million from 2,615 North American theaters its first weekend. Then it pulled in $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters in its second weekend, including Memorial Day.
Seeing a second weekend perform 30% better than an opening is almost unheard of for a film with a wide release. It’s even less common in the horror genre.
The numbers for Curry Barker‘s new movie were so impressive that Blumhouse founder and executive producer Jason Blum addressed it. “Obsession is the ONLY wide-release horror film on record to grow in its second weekend at this scale — $22.4M, up 30% over opening. This doesn’t happen in horror,” Blum posted on X. “Grateful to Focus Features, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, & Divide/Conquer for championing this movie from the start.”
And he isn’t wrong, the horror market is notorious for having a big opening weekend, then falling off. Recent titles like M3GAN, The Black Phone, Barbarian, Weapons, Longlegs, and Talk to Me have bucked this trend by maintaining but not growing in their second weekend. Obsession, gaining more praise and traction with audiences deeper into its theatrical run, is a truly rare accomplishment.
Much of this success is attributed to 75% of Obsession’s audience being between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. A historically key demographic for any film. “There’s a new generation of moviegoers who are declaring a very specific taste for horror movies that is quite left-of-center,” explains Blum. “There’s a lot of concern about theatrical, and this is a real new growth area.”
Its release strategy certainly was a factor as well. The recent trend has been to give indies and original IPs a platform release to build awareness. Instead, Focus Features went against the current market and did a nationwide theatrical release. A gamble that has now more than paid off.
“It’s great the audience is aware of it. You would think they would say, ‘I want to buy it at home.’ But they’re actually cheering for the movie to stay in theaters longer,” he says. “People cherish the theatrical experience, and they’re willing to give up the convenience of seeing something at home to keep their local theater alive.”
With Gen Z’s dollars currently dominating the market, it seems that they are reigniting America’s love of movie theaters. Because “somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this….”
Obsession is currently playing in theaters nationwide.
