According to Sources at Deadline, Focus Features has finalized a deal of over $15 million for the horror film Obsession at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Here’s the logline for the film, which had a midnight premiere at TIFF: “When a hopeless romantic makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him, a sinister enchantment ensues.” The film is Curry Barker’s feature writing and directing debut. He began his career making horror shorts on YouTube. His first short, titled Milk & Serial, Barker made for a reported $800, and was uploaded to YouTube in 2024, where it amassed over 2 million views.
While studios like A24 or Neon might’ve been the usual buyers for this kind of film, the deal makes sense, as it appears to be Focus Features’s attempt to tap more into the horror film market after the surprising success of Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu, which grossed $182M during late December last year and became the studio’s third highest-grossing film. Further details about the deal are scarce, such as release plans and whether or not the deal will be finalized. All that is known so far is that Focus Features hopes to close a deal to get North American and some International distribution.
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