Obsession Filmmaker Curry Barker Sparks Hollywood Interest Amid Record Box Office Success Curry Barker, the 20-year-old YouTuber-turned-filmmaker behind the horror film Obsession, has become a focal point in Hollywood as his movie defied expectations with a record-breaking second weekend performance. The film, which opened with $17.1 million domestically, saw a 39% increase in its second weekend, reaching $23.9 million. By the end of its run, it had grossed $62.3 million domestically, marking the largest second-weekend spike in modern box office history outside of holiday periods. Barker’s meteoric rise has triggered a frenzy among studios, with multiple entities vying for his next project despite his lack of formal industry ties. According to sources, one studio attempted to secure Barker’s next original project with a $10 million preemptive offer, sight unseen. However, the filmmaker’s production banner, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, holds a first-look deal with Universal Pictures, granting it priority negotiation rights for his future projects. This arrangement reportedly cooled the rival studio’s enthusiasm, though it leaves the door open for competition should Universal and Focus Features, the film’s distributor, fail to act. Barker’s next film, Anything But Ghosts, is already in the editing phase. Co-written with actor Cooper Tomlinson and starring the duo, the project is produced by Blumhouse-Atomic Monster. He also recently closed a deal to write and direct Texas Chainsaw Massacre for A24. Meanwhile, A24 is preparing to release Backrooms, a horror film directed by 20-year-old YouTube filmmaker Kane Parsons, which is expected to open between $45 million and $50 million. That would mark A24’s highest-ever debut.#universal_pictures #a24 #curry_barker #blumhouse_atomic_monster #cooper_tomlinson
