Focus Features has acquired YouTube breakout and first-time director Currie Barker’s low-budget horror film “Obsession.” The deal reportedly closed for $14 million.
Barker wrote and directed Obsession in his feature debut. The film, which premiered in the late night section of the Toronto International Film Festival, is about a hopeless romantic who makes a Faustian bargain to win the heart of his unrequited love. It’s a twisted take on the adage, “Be careful what you wish for,” and Barker previously told Variety that the inspiration came after watching an episode of “The Simpsons” in which “Bart gets a monkey’s paw and wreaks havoc.”
Focus Features plans to release Obsession in theaters in 2026. Universal Pictures International will handle international distribution in all territories except France, New Zealand and Russia.
“Obsession” stars Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless and Andy Richter. Producers include James Harris of Teashop Productions, Haley Nicole Johnson of Under the Shell, and Christian Mercuri of Capstone Pictures. Capstone represented worldwide rights and fully funded the project. CAA Media Finance co-represented domestic rights with Capstone.
Barker caught the attention of Hollywood with his 2024 low-budget short film “Milk and Cereal,” which became a viral hit after being released for free on YouTube. He is already preparing his next film, Anything but Ghosts, which he will direct, star in, and co-write with Tomlinson. Blumhouse founder Jason Blum and Roy Lee, two prolific horror producers, joined Obsession just days before it premiered at TIFF.
Before the specialty studio unveils “Obsession” next year, Focus Features has a slate of 2025 productions including Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s latest collaboration “Bugonia,” and the Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson-led musical “Song Saint Bleu.”
