page_title: Obsessed (2009 film)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Obsessed (2009 film) / Production / Background
caption_attribution_description: NBA Hall of Famer, Earvin &quot;Magic&quot; Johnson taken on 2007. Photo by Rafael Amado. ©
context_page_description: Obsessed is a 2009 American psychological thriller film directed by Steve Shill and written by David Loughery. Starring Idris Elba, Beyoncé Knowles, and Ali Larter, the film tells the story of Lisa, an office temp who develops unrequited feelings for her boss, Derek Charles, and repeatedly attempts to seduce him. Derek's wife, Sharon, learns of Lisa's obsessive behavior, and suspects an affair. Obsessed was inspired by the work of directors Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock, and more specifically Fatal Attraction, and its score was written by James Dooley. Lisa and Sharon were dressed in contrasting styles to reinforce their conflicting characters. It was released in the United States on April 24, 2009, by Screen Gems.
  Obsessed received generally negative reviews from critics, many of whom were disappointed in the absence of an explanation for Lisa's obsession with Derek. Others noted that the potential theme of interracial conflict between the Charles family, who are black, and Lisa, who is white, was unexplored.
context_section_description: The concept of Obsessed was thought up by Clint Culpepper, president of Screen Gems, and was shared with David Loughery, who then wrote the screenplay, taking basic inspiration from the similar stalker thriller Fatal Attraction (1987). Producer William Packer read the script and signed on; executive producers for the film were Glenn S. Gainor, Jeff Graup, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Beyoncé, Mathew Knowles, Damon Lee and Loughery, while Nicholas Stern and George Flynn served as co-producer and associate producer, respectively. Director Steve Shill signed on after reading the script and hearing that Beyoncé was on board. Part of the reason Elba joined in was that the black–white theme was ignored; "It's not mentioned in the film, it's never an issue, and I think that's phenomenal ... To me, that was very refreshing that the studio execs didn't want to make an issue of it." Obsessed was allocated a production budget of $20 million. Shill stated that the intended effect of the film was to have the audience discuss the characters' motivations. Writer David Loughery designed Lisa as "not a villain in a traditional sense; she's not setting out to wreck a marriage or ruin somebody's life. She really believes that [Derek] is in love with her." Lisa's past was deliberately omitted from the film, explaining, "It's scarier if we never really know how she's developed this personality that can go from very loving to ultimately deadly."
caption: NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson served as an executive producer
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS-1D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2008:07:30 14:34:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "220", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1046", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4691", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "18", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:06:16 09:17:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:06:16 09:17:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "67/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "312", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "432", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "920", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "492800/223", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "824000/373", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}