Blumhouse's New Horror With 21st Century Box Office Record Is Officially Peacock's #1 Movie

Blumhouse's new movie is the 21st century's horror sensation.

The production company, which launched in 2000, became popular for horror hits like Get Out, M3GAN, the Paranormal Activity franchise, and plenty more. Although Blumhouse hit a small hiccup in 2025, it has since recovered with back-to-back hits like Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and Lee Cronin's The Mummy. But none made headlines like the original supernatural horror, Obsession, which took the world by storm.

Recently, Obsession landed on Peacock on July 17, 2026. It instantly became the no. 1 on the streaming charts, maintaining that momentum after two months in theaters. The movie has outranked The Odyssey: The Making of an Epic (#2), Ocean's Eleven (#3), Reminders of Him (#4), and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (#5).

Blumhouse's horror movie follows shy Bear (Michael Johnston), who has a crush on his friend Nikki (Inde Navarette). After failed attempts to express his true feelings, he uses a One Wish Willow to wish for his crush to fall in love, but even those desires will have consequences. The remaining cast features Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter.

Made for a small $750,000, Curry Barker's new horror became a summer sensation. Before its release, Obsession reviews were very positive, and it earned a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Much of the praise was directed towards the movie's original story and the cast's performance, with Navarette deemed the standout. Following its TIFF premiere in 2025, Focus Features acquired the distribution rights for $14–15 million.

Despite critical acclaim, it was the box-office dominance that took over headlines. Following its May release, Obsession debuted at $17 million on its opening weekend and saw weekend increases, which is a rare trend. Then, it began to break box office records, including the highest-grossing original horror movie in the 21st century with a $430 million total. That means Obsession has made more than 573 times its budget.

The key factor behind its box office success is word of mouth, particularly among the Gen Z demographic. The story contains many thematic elements that are relatable to the generation.

The interest in the horror movie slowly gained traction leading up to its release. There was a growing trend with YouTubers becoming major filmmakers, including Markiplier and Kane Parsons, who directed Backrooms. The latter's success with Barker's fueled headlines as the generation's rising directors and the testament of original content, as many franchises have struggled commercially.

Barker was part of the channel, "that's a bad idea," before helming his first movie, Milk & Serial. Following Obsession's success, his next project is Anything but Ghosts, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Aaron Paul, Violet McGraw, and Tomlinson. The rising director confirmed that the upcoming movie is set in the same universe as Obsession. As for the future, he confirmed that it's unlikely any character will appear in another movie, but is exploring sequel or anthology ideas.

Obsession is now streaming on Peacock.