People are obsessed with Obsession, and with good reason. Writer/director Curry Barker’s debut feature film tells the haunting story of a 20-something guy named Bear (Michael Johnston) who has a crush on a girl he works with named Nikki (Inde Navarrette), but he can’t quite seem to work up the courage to ask her out. So when he finds a wish-granting tchotchke in a local crystal shop, he uses it to wish for Nikki to fall deeply in love with him. While he doesn’t quite expect the wish to come true, it ends up working too well and she becomes utterly obsessed with him. Barker mixes the classic “be careful what you wish for” horror trope with an Exorcist-style possession story to create something unique and terrifying.
Despite the fact that it was made for a budget of just $750,000, the movie earned $17.2 million on its opening weekend. Then, it accomplished a very rare feat when viewership vastly increased during its second weekend over the Memorial Day holiday, pulling in $23.9 million.
People are flocking to their local theaters to see Obsession, but in case you’re more accustomed to watching scary movies at home with all the lights turned off, here’s what we know about when it’s heading to streaming.
When will Obsession be available to rent or purchase digitally?
Originally, it seems that the movie was possibly going to debut on streaming as early as June 2, as several outlets reported on rumors pointing to that as the streaming release date. That would put its exclusive theatrical run at less than two weeks, which is incredibly short, but not that unusual for low-budget horror films. For example, the 2024 horror film The Exorcism came out on streaming just 18 days after its theatrical debut (and that movie starred Russell Crowe).
It seems, however, that this is no longer the case. Following Obsession’s surprising second weekend bump, Blumhouse head Jason Blum told Variety that the film’s theatrical run and streaming debut are a “big topic of conversation at the moment.” Blum also said he’s a “big believer in a long, consistent theatrical window.”
According to Forbes, the film is closing in on $100 million and may earn as much as $200 million. While that’s not quite as much as Weapons’ $270 million haul from last year, Weapons was another horror film that did better than expected, that wasn’t related to a preexisting franchise, so it’s logical to use that as a comparison.
Weapons was released in theaters on August 8 and was available for rent and purchase on September 9, just a month later. Assuming Obsession follows a similar track, it might be available in the middle of June, a month after its May 15 premiere.
When will Obsession be available on Blu-ray/DVD?
Blu-ray.com lists Obsession’s DVD/Blu-ray release as July 14. That’s entirely possible, as a two-month wait from the theatrical release to the home video debut is common now. Weapons was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 14, two months and one week after its initial release.
When will Obsession be available on streaming?
If you’re waiting for Obsession to come to a streaming service where you don’t have to pay for the rental or the purchase, you’ll likely have to wait just a little longer. Weapons came to HBO Max on October 24 last year, two months and two weeks after the theatrical release. If Obsession is similar, you can expect it at the end of July or early August. However, it’ll most likely stream on Peacock, as Peacock is the streaming service for Universal pictures, which distributed Obsession internationally, and Focus Features, which distributed Obsession in America. Though it’s entirely possible Obsession goes to Netflix after that at some point.
For all of these release dates, however, it’ll likely depend on how well Obsession continues its already impressive theatrical run. With that second weekend bump and the new report from Forbes today that Obsession dethroned The Mandalorian and Grogu on Wednesday for the top spot at the box office, the sky — or more appropriately, the galaxy — is the limit.
