I’ve got a brutal flu, so I’m not going to do my usual deep dive into every corner of the […]
I’ve got a brutal flu, so I’m not going to do my usual deep dive into every corner of the box office this weekend, but there’s really only one story worth talking about right now anyway: Obsession.
The film added another $19 million this weekend (-27%) and continues to hold at a level most movies would kill for. More importantly, it’s now officially surpassed The Blair Witch Project‘s $248.6 million worldwide total, making it one of the most successful independently produced horror films in history.
That’s a number many people thought would never be touched by another indie horror movie.
And the funny thing is, the more I think about it, the more the success of Obsession makes perfect sense.
Every single person on the planet has either gone on a date or has a dating horror story. The concept is instantly relatable. You don’t need to know horror mythology. You don’t need to understand some giant franchise. Everybody gets it.
That’s why I’ve been calling it the Jaws of dating.
It’s such an obvious idea that you almost wonder how nobody got there first.
What continues to blow my mind is that Obsession is doing all of this while competing against some massive studio releases.
This weekend saw Steven Spielberg‘s new alien film Disclosure Day open to $45 million. That’s a solid number and a little better than some early projections, but it’s not exactly setting the world on fire for a filmmaker of Spielberg’s stature or a film with this kind of scale behind it. Reviews haven’t exactly been spectacular either.
Obsession just posted $21 million in its latest frame. If Disclosure Day has a front-loaded audience and drops hard next weekend while Obsession continues doing what it’s been doing for weeks, there’s a legitimate scenario where these two movies end up much closer than anyone would’ve predicted a month ago.
A few weeks ago, the idea that a dating horror movie would even be mentioned in the same breath as a brand-new Spielberg blockbuster would’ve sounded ridiculous.
Today, it doesn’t.
Elsewhere, Scary Movie landed in third place with $14.5 million ($84.59 million total domestic), while Backrooms added another $12 million. The movie has now surpassed $250 million worldwide and looks well on its way to topping $300 million globally. Not bad for a film based on a YouTube horror series. That’s an absolutely massive win for A24 and another reminder that horror continues to outperform expectations across the board.
The other surprise this weekend was Lionsgate‘s R-rated action film The Furious.
The movie pulled in an estimated $2.75 million despite playing in a relatively limited number of theaters. That’s a really strong performance considering how crowded the marketplace is right now; the movie probably deserved a wider release.
The irony is almost too perfect. He-Man is basically invincible in the movie, but when it comes to the box office, he’s about as vulnerable as anyone else.
I’m a huge He-Man fan. I grew up with the franchise. I thought the movie absolutely nailed the look of the characters. I thought the energy was there. I thought a lot of the world-building worked. I also thought the movie itself was okay. For me, it’s probably a three-out-of-five-star film.
The problem is that “okay” isn’t enough in a summer this competitive.
I don’t think kids are really showing up for it, and I think the audience is skewing heavily toward adults who grew up with the property. Nostalgia can get people interested, but it can only take you so far.
The one thing He-Man fans should remember is that this is an Amazon movie, and streaming changes the equation. I have no idea what the internal metrics are. Maybe the theatrical run isn’t the primary goal. Maybe subscriber growth and streaming performance matter more than the box office.
If that’s the case, there’s still hope for another movie.
But if we’re looking at this purely through the lens of traditional theatrical performance, this thing is a bust.
Twenty years ago, these numbers probably would’ve killed the franchise dead.
Today? Maybe not.
Circling back to Obsession, it isn’t just the surprise hit of the summer. It’s one of the biggest horror success stories we’ve seen in years. It just passed The Blair Witch Project worldwide; it’s still holding remarkably well week after week, and if these numbers continue, there’s no telling how high this thing can climb before audiences finally move on. I’d expect another $75M before this thing exits theaters for good and a move to streaming in the next two weeks. News when it comes in.
