In the wake of massive summer blockbusters like Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Mortal Kombat II, there wasn’t a singular tentpole release set for May 15, 2026. Still, there were a few notable films that hit theaters, such as the low-budget horror flick Obsession. Curry Barker’s sophomore directorial effort already premiered at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival, but how did Focus Features and Blumhouse Productions manage to build the hype train after hopping on board?
Here is a breakdown of how Obsession performed at the box office this past weekend:
Obsession Box Office
Obsession made $17.2 million at the box office between May 15 and May 17. Considering Barker’s last film, Milk & Serial, debuted for free on YouTube in 2024, that marks quite the leap for the online comedian.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Obsession made $2.6 million in Thursday night previews on May 14. That cash is counted as part of the film’s $6.977 million Friday gross. Obsession now owns the fourth-highest opening weekend by a horror movie so far in 2026, trailing only Scream 7, Send Help and Iron Lung. It also the highest-grossing film that Focus Features has distributed this year, as well as Blumhouse Production’s biggest opener over Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. Focus and Blumhouse’s last collaboration, the B.J. Novak thriller Vengeance, opened to $1.7 million and made $4.3 million back in the summer of 2022.
Looking beyond the United States and Canada, Obsession reeled in an additional $7.0 million overseas. In total, the film grossed $24.2 million worldwide over its opening weekend. Given its $1 million budget, the film has already gone far beyond breaking even theatrically. The wish-gone-wrong horror movie has some intra-genre competition in the form of Corporate Retreat and Passenger arriving on May 22, followed by Backrooms on May 29, but Obsession doesn’t even need to have legs to be considered a financial success.
Box Office Results (May 15-17, 2026)
Here is the top five at the domestic box office from this past weekend:
- Michael – $26.1 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $282.8 million (4 weeks)
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 – $17.9 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $175.7 million (3 weeks)
- Obsession – $17.2 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $17.2 million (1 week)
- Mortal Kombat II – $13.4 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $62.2 million (2 weeks)
- The Sheep Detectives – $9.6 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $29.9 million (2 weeks)
Here is the top five at the worldwide box office from this past weekend:
- Michael – $83.8 million
- Worldwide Gross to Date: $706.7 million (4 weeks)
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 – $68.5 million
- Worldwide Gross to Date: $545.6 million (3 weeks)
- Obsession – $24.2 million
- Domestic Gross to Date: $24.2 million (1 week)
- The Sheep Detectives – $23.6 million
- Worldwide Gross to Date: $58.9 million (2 weeks)
- Mortal Kombat II – $23.4 million
- Worldwide Gross to Date: $101.2 million (2 weeks)