If your one true wish after seeing Curry Barker’s Obsession was to get your hands on a One Wish Willow, you might need to resort to some magic — or come up with wads of cash.
Focus Features’ surprise horror smash has created such a fan frenzy for the novelty item featured in the film that inventory sold out in 12 hours when batches hit the distributor’s dedicated online store. Buyers were limited to purchasing three at a time at $6.99 each, and Focus stocked the site on two separate occasions, first on April 15 and again on May 12. Though a specific number is not available, it is estimated that there are several thousand in circulation. More restocks are possible but nothing official has been confirmed.
After the online store’s supply ran out, sellers took to eBay and Etsy with options ranging from official replicas to blatant rip-offs. (Purchases from the One Wish Willow website came with certificates of authenticity and a disclaimer: “The One Wish Willow is 100 percent magical and 0 percent real. For entertainment only. No actual wishes granted.”) And the prices are just as wild. The Hollywood Reporter discovered multiple options on eBay being sold for $24.98 on the lower end to $599.99 on the highest end. Surprisingly, one Etsy seller was offering a version on sale Tuesday for $3.97, almost half the regular price.
Written and directed by Barker, Obsession centers on a music store employee named Bear (Michael Johnston), a hopeless romantic who has fallen for a co-worker named Nikki (Inde Navarette). Desperate to win her over, Bear buys a novelty item called a One Wish Willow at a local store. After dropping her off at home, Bear breaks the mysterious One Wish Willow in half and wishes for her to love him more than anyone in the entire world. The wish works but his romantic fantasy turns into a violent nightmare.
Inde Navarrette as Nikki in Obsession.
Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
In lieu of One Wish Willows, merch-obsessed fans can still get Obsession items like T-shirts, sweatshirts, totes, popcorn buckets, sticker sheets, candles and “my little food critic” sticky notes or pins.
Courtesy of Focus Features
Focus acquired Obsession out of the Toronto International Film Festival for $15 million, beating out rival studios like Neon and A24. Made on a budget of approximately $750,000, the film has become a certified box office phenomenon breaking multiple records in just weeks. As of Monday, the film has earned $225 million globally, and it stands as the most successful movie Focus has ever released and the top-grossing festival acquisition of all time.
Barker, a YouTube phenom, was deep in the details on all aspects of his feature directorial debut, even recruiting his mother graphic designer mom, Amy Vega, to design the One Wish Willow packaging. In an interview with THR ahead of the release, Curry explained how he wanted to lean into One Wish Willow in the movie’s marketing.
“I wanted to make the One Wish Willow a thing as much as the One Wish Willow could be a thing,” he explained, adding that beyond the merch, it could inspire a storytelling universe. “It’s a great opportunity for an anthology [TV series]. Not every wish deserves its own hour, 45-minute movie, I feel like there’s a great opportunity for a one-hour, eight episode series where maybe each episode is a different wish that has nothing to do with the other. It could be a Black Mirror type of thing.”
But back in the real world, the One Wish Willow is already a thing for the Green Man in Burbank. The metaphysical shop and apothecary, located on Hollywood Way, is featured in the film and name-checked as the spot where Bear buys his One Wish Willow for Nikki. The notoriety has tripled business for the store, which offers a wide range of services including magical advice, custom spell crafting, psychic readings, healing sessions, classes, events, clergy services, ceremonies and more. When THR stopped by the retail space on Sunday close to closing time, it was filled with Obsession fans, all of whom stopped by to purchase One Wish Willows.
Per store manager Linda Snovak, Focus sent over a supply for the Green Man but they went quickly.
“We had the final batch for sale on Friday and there was a line around the corner by the time we opened,” Snovak detailed. “That is not something we’ve seen since our grand opening. Business has tripled since the film came out, and this week has been especially busy.”
Snovak said she doesn’t expect One Wish Willows to come back in stock any time soon but in the meantime, fans are buying other Green Man offerings featured in the film like citrine necklaces (which Bear almost bought for Nikki) and tiger eye stones (which Nikki bought for Bear as a gift). “People are buying a lot of little trinkets like keys, candles, spell kids, conjure oils and other items,” Snovak added. “We also have a display case exactly like the one featured in the movie with a One Wish Willow and the necklace that will be a permanent feature for people to take photos and videos with.”
Snovak wishes they had more One Wish Willows in stock but, like everyone in Hollywood, she too is shocked by Obsession’s success and the boom it sparked for their business. “Nobody expected this to happen and bam, here we are.”
Aaron Couch contributed to this report.
One Wish Willows as featured in Focus Features’ Obsession by Curry Barker.
Courtesy of Focus Features
