‘Obsession,’ Now Going Viral, Just Set A 17-Year Box Office Record

InnovationGaming‘Obsession,’ Now Going Viral, Just Set A 17-Year Box Office RecordByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 12:19pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.ObsessionBlumhouseWhile Obsession, the highly-scored horror movie, landed third place for its opening weekend at the box office, already a win earning many multiples of its budget, by Monday, it set another record. One we have not seen since 2009, when another horror movie did the same thing.Obsession is the cheapest movie to top the box office in 17 years, word-of-mouth spreading so that it beat out the likes of blockbusters Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Mortal Kombat II, earning $2.9 million, bringing its worldwide total up to $27 million.That’s on a reported budget of $750,000, a figure barely any wide-released films can boast, and the last movie with a lower budget to do that is the first Paranormal Activity in 2009. That film reportedly had a budget of $15,000 and was shot in a single house with minimal equipment. It’s sort of a Hollywood urban legend that it’s all it cost, with additional post-production and promotion costs after, but regardless, it’s still lower than Obsession. Paranormal Activity opened very low in limited release, earning just $77,000, but by its fifth weekend, it had built up so much viral steam that it made $21.1 million and won the box office.Paranormal ActivityParanormal ActivityWe are only 4-5 days into Obsession’s run, and the fact that this happened on Monday is eyebrow-raising, and makes one wonder what the following weekend might look like, if it could possibly pass its opening weekend with enough recommendations and interest. One problem is that it’s about to run into The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star Wars movi...