3 min readMumbaiJun 24, 2026 12:14 PM IST
Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession has made history with its box office collection not only at the worldwide box office, but also in India. While it has amassed over $334 million globally, Obsession has earned almost Rs 79 crore in India, becoming the biggest Hollywood hit in the country this year so far. Barker, a 26-year-old YouTuber, who made his feature directorial debut with Obsession, admits he can’t believe the film has done so well in India, or elsewhere.
‘Did not expect’ Obsession to become such a massive hit
“I definitely did not expect Obsession to be a big hit in India. I didn’t expect it to be a big hit anywhere, really. You hope and dream that your movie is successful and that it resonates with people. But I can’t believe what it’s doing. I mean, we made this movie for nothing. I just can’t believe that it’s getting the recognition that it’s getting,” confessed Barker.
Obsession was made on a budget of $750,000 (Rs 7.5 crore), which means it has now earned over 10 times at the India box office alone. “I think the cultural impact has really shocked me. The amount of comedy videos and fan art that people are making for the film is really cool to see. People recreating scenes from the movie and putting a comedy spin on it, is just really cool to see,” Barker told Variety India.
He added that the groundbreaking success of Obsession has placed Hollywood’s focus back on the filmmaker. “I think that the industry is at a place where they’re going to start trusting the filmmaker again. It was something that was really popular back in the day. Filmmakers used to have a lot of say about their art. And I think it just slowly, slowly changed to whatever the algorithms were and whatever Hollywood thought that people wanted,” he said.
He also advised young filmmakers to ensure they work with a good team which trusts the filmmaker. “It’s all about what’s in your contract and who has the final cut. What are they allowed to do? With Obsession, I’ve proven enough that I should have a say in the edit. And I think that there’s certain filmmakers that do kind of, unfortunately, get more controlled. Hopefully, my work has proven for them to let me kind of do my thing,” added the filmmaker.
Also Read: Once champions of indie films, OTT giants are now acquiring them for as less as Rs 30 lakh
Obsession India box office collection
In India, Obsession has surpassed Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s sci-fi adventure Project Hail Mary (Rs 75 crore) to become the biggest Hollywood hit this year. It currently ranks as the 28th highest Hollywood grosser in India ever, just a little over Rs 1 crore away from surpassing the India box office earnings of Joss Whedon’s 2015 Marvel movie Avengers: Age of Ultron (Rs 80 crore) to secure the 27th spot.
