For all of the complaints that Hollywood doesn’t do enough original films, it has become very rare over the past decade for original films to gross $200 million at the domestic box office. But Focus Features’ “Obsession” has done just that, crossing the milestone in the U.S. and Canada as it enters its sixth weekend in theaters.
Since the original Pixar animated film “Coco” crossed that mark in the winter of 2017, only one other original movie has reached $200 million domestic: Ryan Coogler’s Oscar-winning “Sinners,” which hit the mark after 23 days of theatrical play and finished with a final domestic total of just under $280 million after a $48 million opening weekend.
“Obsession” didn’t have the advantage of being directed by the filmmaker behind “Creed” and “Black Panther,” but it came into theaters with wildly strong reviews from its TIFF premiere last September. Still, it earned a rather modest $17.1 million opening weekend, which would have put it in line to give Focus a significant return on investment against their $15 million acquisition.
But with that unexceptional opening came some rather exceptional reception scores, including an A- on CinemaScore that is rare for horror films save for some classics of the genre like “The Conjuring” and “Get Out.” If “Obsession” wasn’t on the radar of the majority of moviegoers before release, it swiftly became a can’t-miss title afterwards as every weekend total it posted in the following month exceeded its opening weekend.
As the year reaches its halfway point, “Obsession” currently stands as the fifth highest grossing film of the year domestically and the eighth highest worldwide as it crosses $300 million globally this weekend, topping Hollywood productions like “Scream 7,” “Mortal Kombat II” and “Wuthering Heights.”
Among horror films, it also joins $200 million-plus grossers like Andy Muschietti’s “It” duology and William Friedkin’s 1973 film “The Exorcist,” which still stands as the highest grossing horror film of all time after inflation adjustment.
