# Obsession

> YouTube creator Curry Barker's horror film Obsession grossed $522 million worldwide.

- Owner: Focus Features (distributor); Curry Barker (writer-director)
- Kind: Film
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 2025-09-05
- Peak date: Week of Jun 7, 2026
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 78 (Breakout), v1.2
- Mechanics: Underdog, Maker origin, Platform jump, Press loop, Pairing

## Summary

Curry Barker premiered Obsession at TIFF on Sept. 5, 2025, and Focus Features bought it. It opened to $17.2 million in the US on May 15, 2026, then rose in its second and third weekends as TikTok edits spread. It finished at $263 million domestic and $522 million worldwide.

## Timeline

- 2025-09-05 — Curry Barker / TIFF Midnight Madness (Box office) — Curry Barker's first theatrical feature premiered at 11:59pm in TIFF's Midnight Madness section.
- 2025-09-05 — Variety (Press) — Variety profiled Barker before the premiere. His $800 YouTube feature Milk & Serial had passed two million views.
- 2025-09-07 — Deadline (Press) — Deadline reported Focus Features was in exclusive talks to buy the film for upwards of $15M. (15M $15M+ deal)

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/obsession-film

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Obsession.” Case HIS-00321. Spread Score v1.2: 78/100. Updated 2026-10-12. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00321