Beyoncé’s list of films is tiny but mighty. While her focus is primarily on her music, every so often, she shifts to the screen and changes things up a bit. For example, her last film was 2024’s fairly well-reviewed Mufasa: The Lion King, where she voiced Nala. However, this work is few and far between, so it must be hard to get her to say yes to a film. That proved to be true for producer Will Packer, who revealed that the pop star turned him down five times before eventually saying yes to the film Obsessed.
Before 2009’s Obsessed, Beyoncé appeared in 2002’s Austin Powers in Goldmember, 2003’s The Fighting Temptations, 2006’s The Pink Panther, 2008’s Cadillac Records, and, the Oscar-winning film, Dreamgirls, showing that she does not frequently take on movies. So, getting her to say yes to Obsessed was not an easy task, but producer Will Packer worked hard to make it happen, as he explained during Watch What Happens Live:
Bey taught me a lot about getting rejected, because she told me no over and over again when I wanted her to be in that movie. She told me no, but she was gracious enough to tell me why. And I kept going back and asking again and again and changing the movie in order to make it something that she could do. So I called it a fortuitous no. And, ultimately, on the sixth time, Beyoncé said yes, and that movie opened at No. 1. So thank you, Beyoncé.
There are two things I really love about this story. One is Packer’s persistence. I think it’s admirable that he did not give up on getting the star he wanted for this movie. Secondly, I appreciate that Beyoncé didn’t just say no; she told him why, too. That made it so the producer knew how to improve his film, and it gave him a chance to try again with her. And in the end, it all worked out!
Now, the reviews for Obsessed were not good – it has a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, according to Box Office Mojo, it made $73.8 million worldwide ($68.2 million of that was domestic) on a $20 million budget. It also won the box office on its opening weekend, beating other films that premiered that weekend, like Channing Tatum’s Fighting and the Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.-led film, The Soloist. It also made more than Zac Efron's 17 Again during those few days, which had been released one week before Obsessed.
As Packer said, the romantic psychological thriller, which also starred Idris Elba and Ali Larter, was No. 1, which is a pretty big accomplishment. So, yes, “thank you, Beyoncé.”
After that, both Packer and Beyoncé have obviously had great careers.
Beyoncé’s music career has continued to thrive over the last 16 years. Most recently, she finally won Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammys with her record Cowboy Carter. And, she’s had some major on-screen moments in the last few years, as her Renaissance Tour had a successful run in theaters in 2023 and she stunned audiences with her Christmas Day halftime performance on Netflix at the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Packer produced popular and successful films like Girls Trip, Beast, Straight Outta Compton, Ride Along and many, many more.
Now, looking back, it’s cool to hear about what went into getting Beyoncé for this film, and it has me wanting to use my Netflix subscription to see her performance in it. Along with being a great singer, she’s also a wonderful actress, so I can see why Will Packer fought hard to get her into his movie.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
