Horror's $15K Box Office Miracle Officially Moves to a New Streamer for Halloween

The return of Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day might steal the spotlight for this year's highest-grossing movie (so far), but the true box office champion of 2026 is Focus Features' Obsession. Moving from YouTube to the filmmaking mainstream, Curry Barker not only showcased his immense directorial talent beyond his years, but also made box office history in the process. During its incredible run, and against a budget of less than $1 million, Obsession returned more than half a billion at the global box office, split between a domestic haul of $263 million and a further $255 million from overseas markets.

This improbable theatrical run was so successful that Obsession became the highest-grossing non-animated original film of the past decade, the highest-grossing original horror movie of this century, and the fifth highest-grossing horror film of all time. This is perhaps the most impressive box office return for a horror movie ever, but the devil's favorite genre is no stranger to such success stories. In the 21st century, one of the most famous of these is Paranormal Activity, written and directed by Oren Peli, which debuted theatrically back in 2009 to an unsuspecting audience.

Taking the found-footage style and adapting it for its specific narrative, Paranormal Activity tells the story of a couple haunted by a supernatural presence who set up a camera to document the chaos. Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat star as the young pair in a film that would spark a huge horror franchise that eventually included seven films. Ahead of spooky season, this found-footage classic is coming to a new streamer: Starz, with the film officially streaming this month.

How Much Did 'Paranormal Activity' Make at the Box Office?

Paranormal Activity's box office run might be the stuff of Noughties legend, but just how much did it actually make? Against a budget of just $450,000, the film earned an impressive $194 million worldwide and became one of the biggest success stories in 2000s cinema. But this certainly puts Obsession's achievement into context, considering that, on a similar budget, it made almost three times Paranormal Activity's worldwide gross.