‘Obsession’ director reveals: $519 million horror hit almost went straight to Netflix

The horror film “Obsession” (2025) by 26-year-old director Curry Barker, a YouTube breakout known from the “that’s a bad idea” channel, has become the year’s biggest cinema sensation: shot on a budget of just $750,000, it has earned over $519 million at the global box office, as Parade reports.

The film’s success has broken a string of records: it is the most profitable film ever made for under $1 million, the most profitable film in Focus Features’ 24-year history, the most expensive festival acquisition surpassing “The Blair Witch Project,” the highest-grossing horror film of 2026 so far — and it holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now the director has revealed that this success almost never happened in cinemas. In an interview for the “Q With Tom Power” podcast, Barker said Netflix had been in the running and had offered to buy the film to release it directly on streaming, without cinemas. “Dude, everybody’s putting in a bid for this thing,” his manager had told him, while the director himself says: “I think Netflix was in the conversation at one point. They put in an offer to just put it straight on Netflix.” He feared the buyer would change his film: “Are they going to want to change my movie?”

“Obsession” premiered at TIFF in September 2025 and was bought by Focus Features for around $14–15 million. The plot follows Bear (Michael Johnston), an awkward music-store employee in love with his colleague Nikki (Inde Navarrette) — he breaks the supernatural “One Wish Willow” charm by wishing that Nikki would love him more than anyone, but the wish turns against him.

Starring Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, and Cooper Tomlinson. Meanwhile, Navarrette has been cast as Rogue in the upcoming X-Men reboot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.