Eight weekends after its release, Focus Features’ “Obsession” has one more achievement to add to its list of historic box office records. As Curry Barker’s acclaimed, potentially Oscar-contending horror film crosses $400 million worldwide, it now stands as the highest grossing film before inflation adjustment with a maximum production budget of $1 million.
There’s only one film in movie history with a budget below that mark and a $400 million global cume before inflation adjustment, and it is the most famous martial arts film of all time: Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon,” which was produced for $850,000 in 1973 and grossed $400 million worldwide, or roughly $2 billion in today’s money, following the Hong Kong star’s untimely death from brain edema shortly before the film’s release.
Among the other notable low-budget films in the sub-million category include the Oscar-winning “Rocky,” made for $1 million in 1976 and grossing $225 million worldwide, the 2007 horror classic “Paranormal Activity,” which made $194 million against a $450,000 budget and established Blumhouse as a titan in the genre, and the 1999 Sundance hit “The Blair Witch Project,” which once held the record for the highest grossing film acquired from a festival with $248.6 million grossed against a $750,000 budget.
While “Obsession” was produced and released in a vastly different economic and cinematic landscape than any of these films, they share a common thread of films with significantly lower budgets and resources than the major studio productions of their time leaving an indelible mark on pop culture.
Produced on a reported $750,000, “Obsession” is a film that, on paper, sounds like a film that the movie world has seen before: a monkey paw horror story about a selfish wish gone horribly wrong that gained wild initial buzz from a festival premiere.
But thanks to Barker’s chilling direction and a disturbing performance from lead star Inde Navarrette, “Obsession” has turned a $17 million opening weekend into the sort of long-running audience buzz that has delivered box office numbers that haven’t been seen in the film industry in decades.
The next four weekends delivered totals higher than opening weekend, and “Obsession” soon joined Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” as only the second original film since the start of 2018 to gross more than $200 million in the U.S. and Canada.
The movie has also joined forces with A24’s horror hit “Backrooms” to become a banner moment for Gen Z filmmakers and audiences, who have become the driving force for both titles as Hollywood has taken note of a new generation that has built its interests and filmmaking experience through YouTube and other online platforms. In the latest development of this new trend, Warner Bros. has announced a horror film based on the creepypasta “Siren Head,” with Brian Duffield directing and “Weapons” filmmaker Zach Cregger co-writing.
Currently standing as the seventh highest grossing film of the year at the halfway point of 2026, “Obsession” has outgrossed movies like the Pixar original animated film “Hoppers,” the “Star Wars” movie “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the Paramount horror sequel “Scream 7,” and the Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie “Disclosure Day.”
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