Obsession director Curry Barker signs eight-figure deal with Universal

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The viral success of Obsession has spiced up Curry Barker’s career, with the filmmaker having signed a reported eight-figure deal with Universal for his third movie. Within the space of about two years, Curry Barker has gone from indie filmmaker to Hollywood celebrity. His psychological horror Obsession has become one of the most talked-about films ... Obsession director Curry Barker signs eight-figure deal with Universal

The viral success of Obsession has spiced up Curry Barker’s career, with the filmmaker having signed a reported eight-figure deal with Universal for his third movie.

Within the space of about two years, Curry Barker has gone from indie filmmaker to Hollywood celebrity. His psychological horror Obsession has become one of the most talked-about films of the year so far, having made almost $300m worldwide and put infinitely more expensive outings like The Mandalorian And Grogu in the shade.

With Obsession still drawing audiences, Barker has sold another original idea to its distributor, Universal, and Blumhouse, the latter coming aboard as a producer after the film screened at festivals in 2025.

The filmmaker pitched his concept to Universal’s executives, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and a “rich eight-figure deal” was promptly made.

This all means that, one, Barker is probably now fabulously wealthy, and two, he’ll be busy for some years to come. His third film (and second released theatrically) Anything But Ghosts is currently in post-production; Barker directs, writes, edits and stars.

He also has a Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot in the works at A24 – one that he says will be “brutal” and “has some heart to it.”

We’d be surprised if Universal didn’t also push for an Obsession sequel at some point – something Barker has said he isn’t against – though for now, it sounds as though he’s being given the creative space to make another original idea. Details of his new film with Universal haven’t been divulged, but he’ll again be given the space to write, direct as well as produce.

Barker is among a new wave of young filmmakers who’ve found their way into the industry through YouTube. Kane Parsons scored a similarly big hit this year with Backrooms, also still in cinemas. The Phillipou brothers went from backyard wrestling videos to the atmospheric, visually stunning Talk To Me and Bring Her Back.

Mark ‘Markiplier’ Fischbach bypassed studios altogether and self-released his claustrophobic horror Iron Lung, making a tidy profit in the process.

Amid a lot of uncertainty and outright doom mongering in the film industry, it’s refreshing to see a new generation of movie-makers cur through the mix.

We’ll bring you more on Curry Barker’s films as we get it.