The biggest second-weekend jump in modern box office history did not come from a Marvel film or a major studio franchise. It came from a debut feature made for $750,000.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, the horror film Obsession earned $23.9 million for the three-day period, a 39.4 percent increase over its opening weekend haul of $17.2 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that is the biggest second-weekend spike in modern times for any film playing in more than 2,500 theaters outside the Christmas holiday window.
Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said he had never seen anything like it. "I've been tracking and analyzing box office for 33 years now, and I thought I'd seen it all until this past weekend with the incredible performance of Obsession that required no caveats," he said. "A second weekend jump nearing 40 percent is virtually unprecedented in the annals of modern box office tracking, and there really is no direct apples-to-apples comparison available."
Focus Features head of distribution Lisa Bunnell said the specialty house knew from early on that the film was unusual. "We're at a level we've never seen before, and the way it has behaved is outrageous," she told THR.
The film's director, Curry Barker, built his following on YouTube before making the move to theatrical features. That online audience appears to have followed him into cinemas. To date, 75 percent of the film's audience is between ages 18 and 34, a bracket that includes Gen Z viewers between 18 and 29 and younger Millennials. That demographic has the power to make or break a wide release, and in this case it has driven repeat viewings and strong word of mouth.
Obsession opened on May 15 to 17 across 2,615 theaters and came in third for that weekend, landing just behind The Devil Wears Prada 2. It was expected to open around $10 million, so the $17.2 million debut was already a significant over-performance. On its first Monday, it climbed to number one at the domestic box office and held that position until Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opened on May 22.
Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Obsession came in second, behind only the Michael biopic. Analysts had projected a 30 percent weekend-over-weekend increase, which would have been notable on its own. The final number came in at 39.3 percent. It was also the only film in the top ten to post a Sunday-over-Saturday increase.
On Memorial Day itself, the film earned $8 million, bringing its 11-day domestic total to $62.4 million. The following Tuesday, May 26, it added another $6.5 million, putting it on pace to cross $70 million in North America in the coming days. The film's total domestic gross now stands north of $68 million against its $750,000 production budget.
