👻 Obsession Breaks The Blair Witch Project's 27-Year-Old Record

This milestone cements Obsession as the highest-grossing festival acquisition in cinema history to be purchased following a post-premiere auction. The project has dethroned the legendary record held by The Blair Witch Project, which set a global box office benchmark of $248.6 million back in 1999.

Focus Features acquired the rights to the Karrie Barker-directed feature, which was produced for a mere $750,000, for $15 million at the Toronto International Film Festival. In a post-pandemic era where festival market deals have stagnated and box office returns have rarely justified inflated auction price tags, the phenomenal success of Obsession has injected renewed hope into the theatrical marketplace, proving that genre cinema remains the most lucrative asset class.

Domestically, the film—starring Indie Navarrete and Michael Johnston—has amassed $188.3 million, outpacing the tracking schedule of the supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense by 7% over the same period. It has also surpassed the lifetime global gross of Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning horror feature Get Out ($259.9 million). Across 59 international territories, the film is demonstrating exceptional box office hold, drawing audiences to theaters despite fair weather, major blockbusters, and even FIFA World Cup matches.

Key international highlights for Obsession include:

• The UK and Ireland: The film grossed $17.7 million, becoming the highest-grossing 18-rated horror film of all time, surpassing hits such as Smile, Weapons, and Nosferatu.
• India: With earnings reaching $8 million, the film holds the title of the number-one Hollywood release in the country for the year and has already cracked the top three highest-grossing horror films in Indian box office history, overtaking The Nun and Annabelle franchises.
• The Middle East: In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, cumulative box office receipts reached $12.4 million, positioning the film as the second most successful horror release in the region’s history.
• Mexico: Demonstrating remarkable holding power with a mere 20% drop in its fifth weekend, the film has accumulated $6.8 million, pacing ahead of The Invisible Man and Scream VI.

The uniqueness of Obsession lies in its universal resonance across diverse cultural landscapes. Whether in the Philippines—which documented an anomalous 97% box office surge in its third week—or in more conservative European markets like the Netherlands, Norway, and Italy, this tale of love and terror continues to shatter records.

Genre filmmaking has officially secured a new benchmark for commercial viability, proving that a compelling concept and raw emotional tension can easily outperform multi-million-dollar blockbusters.