‘Obsession’ Producer Sues Colleagues Over Profit Dispute After Film’s Success

Horror has had a remarkable year at the box office, and few films capture that surge quite like Curry Barker’s ‘Obsession.’ While the film has emerged as one of the genre’s biggest success stories, a new legal dispute behind the scenes threatens to overshadow its victory.

Box office successes often come with complex aftermaths, especially when a project’s journey to the screen was not as smooth as its final figures might imply. This seems to be the case for one of the producers credited with guiding ‘Obsession’ toward its impressive success.

Producer Leonora Ann Darby has initiated a lawsuit in California state court against her colleagues James Harris and Mark Lane, co-founders of Tea Shop Productions, alleging they failed to honor a promise to treat her as an equal producer within the company.

According to the suit, Darby was officially credited as an executive producer on ‘Obsession,’ but internally functioned as a lead producer according to the company’s definitions, a distinction that holds significant financial implications.

This distinction is crucial because, as per the lawsuit, once ‘Obsession’ became a genuine hit, recently surpassing $500 million worldwide on a reported budget of just $750,000, Darby claims she was excluded from the net profit participation she had been promised for projects she lead-produced.

The lawsuit portrays Darby as playing a key, hands-on role in salvaging the film during a challenging post-production phase. It states that the editing of ‘Obsession’ was taken away from writer-director Curry Barker and assigned to a different editor, a change that reportedly compromised the film’s overall quality.

Darby’s filing asserts that she intervened during this troubled period, providing essential creative and structural notes that altered the project’s direction. She reportedly advocated strongly for the edit to be returned to Barker, ultimately succeeding in that effort, which the lawsuit credits with significantly enhancing the film’s production process.

In addition to the editing dispute, Darby claims she suggested reshoots that helped fully realize her creative vision, and that these reshoots significantly strengthened the final product. Her attorney emphasized that Darby “has brought serious and substantial claims, supported by a detailed factual record,” according to a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter.

Darby’s association with Tea Shop Productions dates back to 2019, when she joined the company as a development and production executive before eventually becoming one of its three producers alongside Harris and Lane. Her producing credits include thrillers like ‘The Surfer’ and ‘Tornado,’ as well as the horror film ‘A Banquet.’

The lawsuit also highlights a set of 2024 compensation negotiations intended to formalize her elevated status, with the parties reportedly agreeing that Darby would receive one-third of net profits on films she lead-produced, along with participation in collection account management agreements related to those projects.

For a film that has become one of the genre’s biggest financial success stories in recent memory, the lawsuit introduces an unexpected layer of behind-the-scenes tension to ‘Obsession’s’ otherwise triumphant journey. It also raises broader questions about how credit and compensation are allocated on films that dramatically exceed expectations.

Currently, representatives for Tea Shop Productions and Barker have not publicly responded to the allegations. Given the scale of ‘Obsession’s’ box office success, this dispute is unlikely to dissipate quietly, and industry observers will be closely monitoring how both parties react in the coming weeks.