Here is the number that matters: since Pixar’s Coco crossed $200 million domestically in the winter of 2017, only two original films have reached that threshold. One is Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. The other is Obsession, a horror film directed by Curry Barker, a horror director and former internet creator who was 26 at the time.
It is just that rare for original films to cross the $200 million threshold. The deal Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster signed with Barker immediately after is the payoff.
The Box Office Shape That Should Not Exist
Obsession opened to $17.1 million in its first weekend. Modest. The kind of number that gets a horror film written off as a solid-but-quiet acquisition win and nothing more. Then something unusual happened.
Every weekend after that, the box office numbers grew, which does not happen often, as the hype usually fades. Six weekends in, the film crossed $200 million domestically and now sits above $300 million globally, the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year domestically at the time of reporting, sharing box office company with IT and The Exorcist in horror terms.
The audience score tells the same story. The film earned an A on CinemScore, a rare feat, joining some classics like The Exorcist and Get Out. That is a score you earn by making something people leave the theater wanting to tell someone about. The box office shape and the CinemaScore are the same data point: this film spread the way online content spreads, organically, through people recommending it to people.
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The Deal, and Why It’s the Second Half of the Same Story
Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster did not wait to see what Barker would do next. They funded it. Barker has signed an eight-figure deal to write, direct, and produce a new original horror film, his third collaboration with Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Universal, produced by Spooky Pictures and Divide/Conquer.
Anything But Ghosts is an upcoming supernatural horror film directed by Curry Barker and co-written with Cooper Tomlinson. The setup is great: two con artists running fake ghost-hunting shows for paying clients, doing the whole elaborate performance, until a real dark entity shows up and suddenly none of their tricks are useful. That is a studio doubling down on a proven model rather than hedging toward franchise safety.
This film is something I’ve been excited to make for a while, and I’m thrilled to be reteaming with Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Universal Film Group for it.
NBCUniversal Chairman Donna Langley was specific about why.
Curry Barker has an exceptional ability to tap into the cultural zeitgeist, pairing an innate instinct for what resonates with audiences with extraordinary filmmaking prowess.
James Wan and Jason Blum put it in terms of audience access:
The best filmmakers can work anywhere, and we are proud to have a growing slate with Curry. Getting to put this project in front of the fans his work speaks to is the whole reason we do this.
Since Coco in 2017, only two original films have crossed $200 million domestically. Barker accounts for one of them, at 26, with an immediate eight-figure commitment to attempt it again.
The question the industry should be asking is not whether original horror can work in a franchise-dominated market. Barker already answered that. The question now is who else fits the profile, and whether studios are paying attention to what actually built the audience, not just who showed up to count it.