‘Obsession’ Director Curry Barker Wants To Release a Longer Extended Cut of His Breakout Horror Hit

Few horror films in recent memory have come out of nowhere quite like ‘Obsession’. Curry Barker, a YouTube sketch comedian best known as one half of the duo That’s a Bad Idea, wrote, directed, and edited the film on a budget of no more than $750,000.

The result became one of the year’s biggest box office stories. After premiering in the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was released by Focus Features in May and went on to earn about $514 million worldwide.

Now fans may have even more ‘Obsession’ to look forward to. Barker revealed that there’s an extended cut of the film that runs about 20 minutes longer than the theatrical release, and he would like to get it out to audiences.

“I would say that there’s a longer version of the movie that I would love to release, for sure,” Barker told Rolling Stone. He made a clear distinction between the versions, saying the movie already in theaters is the director’s cut and that the longer version would be an “extended cut for sure.”

Curry Barker says there’s an extended cut of ‘OBSESSION’ that is 20 minutes longer that he would like to release. “The [existing] movie is the director’s cut… I would say extended cut [for this one] for sure.” (Source: @RollingStone) https://t.co/mNGZLGt9Wv

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 1, 2026

With the theatrical cut running roughly 108 minutes, the extended version would push the film’s runtime to nearly 2 hours and 10 minutes. No release plans have been announced yet.

Barker’s comments suggest he’s comfortable with the version audiences have already seen. Rather than presenting the longer edit as his true vision, he describes it as additional material that fans might enjoy.

World of Reel noted that Barker has admitted he mostly sees the problems when he watches the film. The outlet also suggested that an extended home-video release could be an easy win for Focus Features, given the movie’s massive success.

You wished for this. Official trailer for OBSESSION, only in theaters May 15. Text 724-876-4554 🖤 https://t.co/rNfs9wfwml

— Obsession (@obsessionmovie) March 11, 2026

The film follows Bear, a shy music store employee played by Michael Johnston. After buying a novelty toy called the One Wish Willow, he wishes that his coworker and friend Nikki would love him more than anyone else.

That wish has disturbing consequences, as Nikki becomes increasingly obsessive and violent. Inde Navarrette’s performance as Nikki earned wide praise from critics. The cast also includes Cooper Tomlinson, Barker’s comedy partner, along with Megan Lawless and Andy Richter. Barker himself voices the One Wish Willow customer service representative.

‘Obsession’ has been as popular with critics as it has been with audiences. It holds a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 327 reviews and a 77 on Metacritic, while moviegoers gave it an “A-” CinemaScore.

The film has also collected several honors. It was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award at TIFF, won a Special Jury Prize at Sitges and took home Best Horror Movie at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards. Focus Features reportedly paid between $14 million and $15 million for the rights, a deal that now looks like a major win.

The success has opened plenty of doors for the young filmmaker. Barker has talked about a possible ‘Obsession’ sequel, and his next feature, ‘Anything But Ghosts’, is already in the works. He has also signed on to reboot ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ after that. Before then, fans will be hoping he gets the chance to share his extended cut.

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