Obsession filmmaker Curry Barker has become Hollywood’s latest obsession. But his meteoric ascension, still streaking across the sky, heralds a generational shift of where the industry’s next filmmakers could come from.
Coming off the eye-popping second weekend performance of his horror movie, where it defied the laws of gravity by making even more money than its first weekend, Barker is already fielding offers, or attempted offers, in any case, and he hasn’t even pitched his next project yet.
According to sources, one studio is so hot to work with Barker and so believes in the YouTuber-turned-theatrical filmmaker, that it attempted to make a preemptive offer of $10 million for Barker’s next original project, sight unseen.
“Attempted” is the word, as sources also tell The Hollywood Reporter that based on a deal made before Obsession’s release via Universal Pictures’ specialty arm Focus Features, the film’s production banner, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, which has a first-look deal with Universal, has the right of first negotiations for the filmmaker’s next original feature.
When the studio learned this, it moved off the pedal, according to multiple sources. But it does put that company in pouncing position should Blumhouse and Universal not engage. A third studio is also said to be marshaling forces to make a move.
No details are known about the new project and no producers are currently attached. Barker could be meeting with Universal execs to pitch this new project as early as today.
A representative for Universal could not be reached for comment. Both UTA and Underground, which rep Barker, could also not be reached for comment.
And while there are no offers, let alone negotiations, the studio’s interest has turned the heat from a gentle simmer to a propulsive boil. Some see the situation potentially resulting in a contest between Universal and that first studio (or others) that might reach $20 million.
Top studio execs have been shocked into a stupor by the performance of Obsession. Made for only $750,000 and then picked up by Focus at the Toronto International Film Festival for $15 million, Obsession grossed $17.1 million domestically in its opening weekend. Word of mouth was so strong that it was making around $3 million a day during the week. And during its second weekend, it made $23.9 million, a 39 percent increase. It stands at $62.3 million domestically.
Barker has already shot his next film for Focus, Anything But Ghosts, and is in the editing phase. He co-wrote it with creative star Cooper Tomlinson, with the duo starring. (Blumhouse-Atomic Monster is one of the producers on that one.) And he recently closed a deal to write and direct Texas Chainsaw Massacre for A24.
This is occurring as A24 prepares to open Backrooms, a horror movie made by another YouTube filmmaker, Kane Parsons, which is tracking to open between $45 million to $50 million. That would be A24’s biggest debut ever. Parsons could be next in line for a payday. (And as luck would have it, Blumhouse-Atomic Monster is producing that one, too.)
Earlier this year, YouTuber Mark Fischback, who goes by the name Markiplier directed, self-financed and distributed sci-fi horror film Iron Lung, which made $50 million on a $3 million budget.
This new crop of filmmakers and their films seem to be striking a chord with the Gen Z audience in a way that movies routinely did for 20-something viewers in the 2010s. The Marvel and Star Wars movies, as well as remakes of 20th century hits, no longer bring in the coveted young demographic as they did before.
“The moment is here,” says one studio head. “YouTube is blessing these filmmakers and we are struggling to catch up. Right now, it’s about us not being second to the party.”
