Iconic Horror Classic Reboot Coming from the Director Who Made an $800 YouTube Movie
Two years ago, Curry Barker made a horror movie for $800. He shot it himself, cast his comedy partner, and put it on YouTube for free. That film, Milk & Serial, racked up 2.4 million views and got him signed by UTA. Now, the 26-year-old filmmaker from Mobile, Alabama is responsible for one of the genuine surprise stories of the 2026 box office.
It's just been announced A24 has tapped Barker to reimagine The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the genre's most storied properties. How exactly did he get here?
Obsession, Barker's first theatrically released film, opened May 15 to a $17.2 million domestic debut, more than double what analysts had projected. The supernatural horror follows Bear, a music store employee who breaks a toy called 'One Wish Willow' to make his longtime crush fall in love with him, only to discover that some wishes carry a very dark price. Made for $1 million and acquired by Focus Features for roughly $14 million after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film became the highest-grossing genre acquisition in TIFF history.
What happened in week two was even more remarkable. Instead of the usual horror drop, Obsessionsurged 26 percent over this past Memorial Day weekend, one of the smallest second-weekend declines in domestic box office history, across any genre. The film also topped the weekday charts Monday through Wednesday after opening weekend, making it the cheapest movie to lead the box office since Paranormal Activity in 2009. Its global total now stands north of $60 million on that $1 million budget.
Critics have been just as enthusiastic as audiences. Obsession holds a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a rare A- CinemaScore, the same grade Get Out earned. Barker has spoken openly about his debt to Jordan Peele, describing the comedian-to-horror pipeline as a natural one. 'There's a darkness in comedy,' he told Rotten Tomatoes. 'As a comedian, you're constantly studying the human condition. Those skills lend themselves really well to horror.'
The path that brought Barker here started on a sketch comedy YouTube channel he shares with collaborator Cooper Tomlinson called 'That's a Bad Idea,' which has accumulated over 700 million views across platforms. Their $800 found footage feature, Milk & Serial, caught the attention of horror fans and industry figures alike, and eventually landed Barker meetings with every major horror producer in town. Jason Blum was watching too. Blumhouse got Obsession before its TIFF debut, signing on for Barker's follow-up, Anything but Ghosts, before a single critic had seen his first theatrical film.
That level of genre success has given Barker the keys to one of the most iconic properties in horror history.
Obsession is currently playing in theaters.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:12 AM.