YouTube comedian-turned horror filmmaker Curry Barker is in the midst of one of the most consequential weeks of his career. His feature Obsession is among the more anticipated titles at the Toronto Film Festival, where it premieres Friday as part of the genre-focused Midnight Madness section and hopes to find a buyer.
Now, just days before Obsession’s debut, a group of horror power producers have teamed to acquire Barker’s follow-up project, Anything But Ghosts. Barker will direct and star, and co-wrote the script with creative partner Cooper Tomlinson, who will also star.
Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Spooky Pictures’ Roy Lee and Steven Schneider will produce the feature, along with Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath for Divide/Conquer.
Barker has been on the rise for the past year since arriving on the horror scene with Milk & Serial, an $800 feature he posted to YouTube and which has amassed more than 2 million views. Before that, the 25-year-old was best known for That’s a Bad Idea, the YouTube sketch channel he runs with Tomlinson and boasts millions of followers across social media platforms.
Image Nation and That’s a Bad Idea are backing Anything But Ghosts, with executive producers including Barker, Tomlinson and Ben Ross. Notably, the project will mark the first collaboration between Blum and Lee, who is coming off of the Zach Cregger horror sensation Weapons.
As for Barker’s TIFF title Obsession, it was financed by Capstone, which is also handling worldwide sales. Producers on that title include James Harris (Tea Shop) and Haley Johnson (Under the Shell). Per the logline: “When a hopeless romantic makes a wish that his long-time crush falls in love with him, a sinister enchantment ensues.” The film stars Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette, and also features Tomlin.
Barker is repped by Underground, UTA and Yorn Levine. Tomlinson is repped by Canopy Media Partners, Paradigm and Yorn Levine.