We’re now past the halfway point of 2026, and as with every year, there have been some major box office surprises. The year opened with a few sci-fi bombs in Mercy (starring Rebecca Ferguson) and Greenland 2: Migration (starring Gerard Butler), which collectively lost millions for both Amazon and Warner Bros. The first big sci-fi box office smash hit of the year didn’t come until the premiere of Project Hail Mary (starring Ryan Gosling), which grossed over $600 million at the box office before also becoming a streaming success on MGM+. It’s also been a wildly successful year for low-budget horror movies, including Backrooms, which hails from 21-year-old director Kane Parsons. After earning $330 million against a $10 million budget to become the most successful A24 film ever, the studio is putting Backrooms back in theaters this weekend with 15 minutes of never-before-seen footage.
However, as wildly successful as Backrooms has been, it doesn’t even come close to the profitability of the biggest horror sensation of 2026, Obsession. Written and directed by up-and-coming prodigy Curry Barker, Obsession was produced on a shoe-string budget reported to be around $750,000, and the film turned out to be profitable in less than one day. After releasing in theaters on May 15, Obsession has racked up over $370 million in total box office earnings, meaning the film has grossed nearly 500x its budget — this is enough to not only be the most profitable movie of the year, but one of the most profitable films ever made. After its tremendous box office success, Obsession is ready to enter a different stage of its life cycle, where the film is now available to stream at home via VOD platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV.
What Is ‘Obsession’ About?
Obsession follows a guy who breaks a mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart. While he does ultimately get what he asks for, he realizes that this newfound desire comes at a dark and sinister price. The horror film stars breakouts Inde Navarette, Michael Johnston, Cooper Tomlinson, and Megan Lawless, who are all certain to get more offers going forward. Obsession holds equally strong scores of 94% from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the highest-rated films of 2026. Disclosure Day director Steven Spielberg has also publicly shared his love for Obsession, further driving it home as one of the biggest movies of the year.
Check out Obsession at home on VOD platforms and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of all the biggest movies of the year.
- Release Date
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May 15, 2026
- Runtime
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108 minutes
- Director
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Curry Barker