After “Obsession” turned into one of the year’s biggest horror breakouts, Curry Barker’s next wave of projects keeps getting bigger.
According to Variety, Barker will write, direct, and produce an untitled original horror film for Universal Film Group and Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Plot details, casting, and release plans are being kept under wraps, but the film is being described as Barker’s third feature.
That timeline is notable because Barker already has another film coming first. “Anything But Ghosts,” his next feature after “Obsession,” is set up at Focus Features and stars Barker, Cooper Tomlinson, Bryce Dallas Howard, Aaron Paul, and Violet McGraw. Barker directed the film and co-wrote it with Tomlinson.
The Universal/Blumhouse Atomic Monster deal follows last month’s report that Barker’s next original horror movie had become a hot commodity around town, with at least one studio reportedly willing to pay $10 million for the project sight unseen before Barker had even pitched it. Whether this untitled film is the same project remains unclear, but the timing tracks with how quickly Barker’s heat has risen.
“Obsession,” Barker’s microbudget horror feature, became a word-of-mouth phenomenon earlier this year, reportedly jumping roughly 39 percent in its second weekend and earning around $75 million worldwide against a sub-$1 million budget. Written and directed by Barker, the film stars Michael Johnston as Bear, a lonely music store employee whose wish for his childhood friend Nikki (Inde Navarrette) to fall in love with him begins to spiral in disturbing ways (read our review).
Before “Obsession,” Barker broke through with “Milk & Serial,” a found-footage horror film reportedly made for around $800 and released for free on YouTube. He is also attached to direct A24’s new reimagining of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
For Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, the appeal is obvious enough. Barker is a white-hot young filmmaker with a proven low-budget hit, and enough momentum that studios were chasing his next original idea before they knew what it was. The world, as they say, is his oyster. [via Variety]
