If you haven’t seen Obsession yet, where the hell have you been? 20-year-old directorial wunderkind Kane Parsons might’ve also recently unleashed existential hell with Backrooms and delivered A24 its biggest-ever hit, but the real horror movie success story of the year so far goes to Curry Barker’s gnarly, twisted not-a-rom-com. To the uninitiated: the film is about a guy (Michael Johnston) who uses a cursed toy called a “One Wish Willow” to make his crush fall madly in love with him, and she becomes, well, violently obsessed. It’s grisly, kind of evil, and a great time at the movies, hence why it has to date made $230 million on its $750k budget, going so far as to make more money in the U.S. than the latest Star Wars flick.
To see a genuine word-of-mouth hit is a beautiful thing, even when said hit involves someone getting their skull smashed into a steering wheel. And even though the obsession with Obsession has yet to properly wind down, all eyes are on what Barker is up to next. The good news: his follow-up is already in the works.
Aaron Paul and Bryce Dallas Howard have signed on to Anything but Ghosts, which follows two fake paranormal investigators whose con unravels when they come face-to-face with the actual supernatural. Barker is writing the film with Cooper Tomlinson, who played deceptive best friend Ian in Obsession and is also set to star in Anything but Ghosts. Barker himself is also on the cast list, though maybe he’ll actually be on screen this time. (He made a brief cameo as the voice of the unhelpful One Wish Willow customer service rep.)
Little else is known about Anything But Ghosts, but Barker has teased that the film will exist in the same universe as Obsession. (OCU: Obsession Cinematic Universe?) In a screening Q&A, he revealed that he’s included a reference to the tragic fallout of the cursed wish (spoilers ahead): “There’s like a news article thing on the next movie where you hear a news anchor talking about a triple homicide [by] a woman.” Looks like poor Nikki is getting the blame for her friends’ fate — and hey, it’s probably hard to explain to the cops that you were possessed by a demonic entity.
This does bring to mind an obvious question: what about a direct Obsession sequel? (We know all what movie studios are like — stumble upon a cash cow, milk it for all it’s worth.) Word is that the conversation is yet to be had around Obsession 2, but producer James Harris recently told Variety that he expects it to begin “sooner rather than later.” It’s more a question of Barker’s availability now that he’s the horror maestro on everyone’s lips.
Case in point: indie fave A24 has tapped Barker to resurrect the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise with a movie reboot that he’ll write and direct. (Since landing the rights, the studio seems to be going all in on Leatherface — Glen Powell and The Long Walk writer JT Mollner are also developing a separate TV series.) Barker has deep Chainsaw lore, as Tobe Hooper’s grisly classic was a key inspiration for him to become a director after he watched the film at age 11.
“I think of it as respecting the source material,” he said about his upcoming take. “I absolutely love the original film, but I want to do something that’s different. I’m not gonna stray away too far from what we know, but just making it stronger. Really, I want to lean into the uncomfortability of the family. I want to lean into the rawness of what’s going on there. There’s some really messed up stuff happening at that farm.” Considering the gnarly places that Obsession goes to, Barker will be right at home in the Texas Chainsaw world. Invest in your Barker stocks early, we’re seeing the makings of a horror auteur — and he’s hitting the ground running.
