Friday Box Office: 'Obsession' Nabs $6M, Will Hold Even Better Than 'Sinners' and 'Sixth Sense'
Yes, 'Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu' might clear $100 million for the holiday weekend, but the real news is the Focus Features and Blumhouse chiller that's becoming a word-of-mouth sensation.
Focus Features’ Obsession earned $6 million on Friday, placing second behind the latest Star Wars story and bringing its eight-day domestic total to $36.4 million. That’s a Friday-to-Friday decline of just 13%, positioning Curry Barker’s breakout feature-film debut for an over/under $20 million Fri-Sun and over/under $25 million Fri-Mon Memorial Day weekend haul. That would represent a 16% jump from its $17.2 million opening weekend. It would also give the $750,000 flick (which also lists Blumhouse among its executive producers) a $55.2 million 11-day domestic cume.
That would put the Michael Johnston and (likely awards season sleeper contender) Inde Navarrette-led high-concept chiller past the lifetime grosses of every IFC, A24 or NEON horror movie save, for now, Longlegs ($75 million from a $23 million debut in 2024), while putting it essentially above any of Lionsgate’s non-sequel chillers. Lionsgate didn’t yet own Anchor Bay when The Blair Witch Project debuted, while Saw earned $56 million in 2004. Yes, yes, inflation and (where applicable) PLF auditoriums, but give it a week. Your move, Backrooms.
This follows a shockingly leggy $17.2 million debut weekend from a $6.9 million Friday, and a weekday surge that saw it top the domestic box office with $2.9 million on Monday, $3.65 million on Tuesday, $3.24 million on Wednesday and $3.4 million on Thursday for a seven-day $30.4 million domestic total. Rank is trivia, and it is technically placed second to The Mandalorian and Grogu’s $12 million Thursday preview grosses (amid a $33 million Friday for a likely $82 million Fri-Sun/$100 million Fri-Mon debut), but c’est la vie.