It really feels like the most significant movie weekend of the decade. You have “Backrooms” and “Obsession,” both with a combined budget of under $10M, dominating a new “Star Wars” movie that cost $165M. It’s virtually unheard of, and the landscape seems to be shifting by the day.
Take, for example, “Obsession,” which was released three weeks ago and for which Focus Features had scheduled a digital release on June 2. With the film posting yet another increase this weekend—a $27M haul, 13% higher than last weekend—Focus didn’t have much of a choice.
That June 2 digital release date has officially been scrapped by Universal/Focus. Curry Barker’s film is now expected to receive a 45-day exclusive theatrical window, a privilege usually reserved for Universal’s biggest blockbusters.
There was no way this film was going the digital route on Tuesday. It has exceeded all expectations. The film is packing theaters, and exhibitors would have been furious by the early digital date.
So far, “Obsession” has grossed $148M worldwide, with $105M of that total coming domestically—and it still hasn’t opened in a number of international markets. The film, which screened in TIFF’s Midnight Madness program last September, was made for just $750K—or at least that’s what its creators say, and I believe them.
When measuring profitability by return on investment (ROI), some low-budget films outperform even the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. The most famous example is “Paranormal Activity” (2007), which was produced for approximately $15,000 and went on to earn nearly $193M worldwide, making it one of the highest-ROI films ever made. Similarly, “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) was created on a budget of roughly $60,000 and generated about $248M at the global box office.
These films demonstrated that a compelling concept and strong audience engagement can deliver far greater investment returns than expensive blockbuster productions. “Obsession” is on track to eclipse all of them, with some projections pointing to a $300M worldwide total by the end of its theatrical run.
Festival press conferences have turned into landmines of political questioning, to the point where some artists would probably prefer to turn down being a juror at Cannes, Venice, or Berlin.