The streaming offer for Obsession could have taken the film out of cinemas: Curry Barker said Netflix offered to put his horror feature straight on its service after the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival premiere triggered distributor interest. Focus Features ultimately acquired the film for a theatrical release, Barker said on CBC’s Q with Tom Power; IGN reported his comments, and the full CBC interview is available online.
“I think Netflix was in the conversation at one point. They put in an offer to just put it straight on Netflix.”
Curry Barker, on Q with Tom Power
Streaming offer for Obsession: what Barker said
Barker recounted the bidding discussions in the CBC interview, published on 25 September 2026. He said that after the film’s midnight premiere at TIFF in 2025, he woke to missed calls from his manager, agent and financier. His manager told him companies were bidding, naming Neon, Focus Features and A24 among the interested distributors. Netflix was also in the conversation, Barker said, and made an offer for a direct release on its service.
The director said he had been thinking about a small cinema release and was unsure whether a distributor might want changes or cuts. That was a concern he described around the acquisition talks; he did not say Netflix asked him to alter the film. Barker did not disclose the offer’s amount, proposed window, contract terms or any conditions attached to it. His account establishes the direct-to-Netflix proposal, not the full shape of negotiations. The streaming offer for Obsession is not evidence that a cinema window was ruled out permanently; the interview does not set out how long the service would have held the film or whether a later theatrical run was part of the terms.
Focus Features took Obsession to cinemas
Focus Features ultimately acquired the film. CBC’s interview description says the company paid roughly $15 million after the TIFF premiere, a festival acquisition that followed Barker’s low-budget debut. The film was written and directed by Barker and stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette. The distributor’s official home-entertainment announcement identifies it as a Focus Features release and dates its digital debut to 30 June 2026, with 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD following on 14 July.
The theatrical release gave the horror film a run that a straight-to-platform arrangement would not have had in the same form. IGN reported a worldwide box-office total of $519.4 million, citing Box Office Mojo, against a reported production budget of $750,000. The CBC interview describes it as the highest-grossing film made for under $1 million. Those figures show what happened after the Focus deal; they cannot tell us whether a Netflix launch would have produced the same audience or later viewing numbers.
Barker’s comments also separate two questions that can get merged in a retelling: whether Netflix offered to put the movie on its service, and whether a streaming release would have changed its reception. He confirmed the first. He did not speculate on a streaming outcome, and no offer terms have been made public. The scale of the theatrical result makes the counterfactual tempting, but there is no release history for the film under the other deal to compare against.
Netflix’s cinema releases are title-by-title
Netflix has since confirmed theatrical plans for other films. Ray Gunn is set for select cinemas before its Netflix debut in December 2026, while Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film has a wide theatrical date before streaming in 2027. Those separate release plans show that Netflix can use cinema windows for particular projects; they do not establish what the company would have offered Barker in 2025.
Obsession’s release path is now clear: the film went to Focus Features, played in cinemas, then arrived on digital platforms and physical media. The Netflix offer remains a detail from Barker’s account of the bidding, rather than a deal whose financial terms or proposed launch plan have been disclosed.
Did Barker say Netflix asked him to change Obsession?
No. Barker said he worried that potential distributors might want to change or cut parts of the film, but he did not say Netflix asked for edits.
Would the Netflix offer have ruled out a cinema release later?
That is not clear. Barker said the offer was to put Obsession straight on Netflix, but the interview does not disclose whether a later cinema window was excluded.
