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Curry Barker's low-budget horror hit "Obsession" will begin streaming on Peacock on 17 July, following an unusually strong theatrical run that prompted its distributor to delay the digital release. Barker's debut feature — in which a lovelorn man named Bear (Michael Johnston) wishes for his co-worker Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to love him, only for her to become dangerously and fatally obsessed — has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon and the highest-grossing release in Focus Features' history.
Made on a budget of less than $1 million and acquired by Focus for $14 million out of last year's Toronto International Film Festival, the film has grossed $370 million worldwide to date. It earned an "A-" CinemaScore and a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and posted rare week-on-week box-office growth, rising from a $17.2 million domestic opening to $23.9 million and then $27.4 million in its second and third weekends. The success has fuelled awards-season talk, with Variety's Clayton Davis likening its trajectory to Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning "Get Out," while Barker's next projects include "Anything but Ghosts," starring Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard, and a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" reboot for A24.
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Curry Barker is a first-time film director whose low-budget horror film, "Obsession," has become an unexpected box-office hit. The story follows a man named Bear who wishes for his co-worker Nikki to fall in love with him, only for that wish to curdle into a deadly obsession. It was made for under $1 million and picked up by the studio Focus Features for $14 million after being shown at a film festival in Toronto last year.
Since its cinema release, the film has taken in $370 million worldwide, making it the biggest earner in Focus Features' history, and it has kept growing its takings week after week rather than tailing off as most films do. That unusual performance, combined with strong reviews and audience scores, is why it is now being talked about as a possible awards contender, in the way "Get Out" was a few years ago.
Because of this success, the film's move from cinemas to home streaming was pushed back longer than usual, which is the background to its arrival on the streaming service Peacock. Barker, previously little known, now has higher-profile projects lined up, including a film with actors Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard and a new version of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
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Originally published by Variety as “‘Obsession’ Sets Peacock Streaming Release Date”.