It's All For Him: 'The Omen' And Its Apocalyptic Achievements

This week marks the tenth anniversary of Fox ’s remake of The Omen. Surprisingly enough, it does not also mark the 40^th anniversary of the Gregory Peck-starring original, although that particular milestone anniversary does come later this year (on June 25^th, to be precise). I guess they didn’t feel the need to capitalize on a release date with three 6’s in it, like its redo did, but then again, 06/06/76 doesn’t have quite the ring to it that 06/06/06 did. Either way, the message is clear: when school is out, the Antichrist wants to play.

The 2006 remake of Richard Donner’s classic mostly came and went without much hoopla a decade ago. Horror fans groaned, of course, but then again, we’re a grumbling lot in general. Some critics also raised an eyebrow, but realistically, it’s not like the overall franchise ever had the best critical reputation. After two theatrical sequels, a TV movie follow-up, and a failed TV pilot, there wasn’t much of that original film’s reputation left to tarnish in their eyes. Nor in the eyes of most fans for that matter.

The film was pretty much a carbon copy of the original, albeit with a new cast and updated FX, after all. It arrived, made its money ($64.8 million adjusted domestically), and was promptly forgotten relatively quickly after it shuffled out of theaters. Even when people look back upon the horror remake-laden nature of the ‘00s, whether they are discussing the winners or the worst offenders, it tends to get overlooked.

The Omen is an odd intellectual property all around. As stated above, in addition to the original 1976 film, there are numerous follow-ups. Theatrical sequels to it were produced in 1978 and 1981. A fourth installment, in the form of TV movie The Omen IV: The Awakening, was broadcast in 1991. A few years later, a tangentially-related TV pilot bearing the franchise name was produced in the hopes of igniting a TV series. It was unsuccessful in doing so.

A TV spin-off was tried once again this very year with A&E’s Damien, but the series (which was decent, creatively) failed to rack up enough ratings to warrant further seasons. Going even farther, sequel novels were actually published in the 1983 (The Omen IV: Armageddon 2000) and 1985 (The Omen V: The Abomination), which continued the plot of the films.

Regardless of its failings off the silver screen, the franchise has still remained a profitable one in theaters. Before we get into the actual statistics, just know that in an effort to evenly compare all four theatrical Omen projects, I have adjusted their budgets and domestic grosses for inflation. As stated above, the 2006 redo hauled in $64.8 million, off of a budget of slightly under $30. That’s certainly enough to have made the reboot worth doing, especially once international grosses are tacked on, but not quite enough to have warranted a further extension of the franchise at the time.

Going back to the original 1976 classic, Richard Donner’s apocalyptic horror opus cost around $12 million to produce and conjured up the then-equivalent of over $204 million at the box office in America alone. Property creator David Seltzer envisioned it as a potential franchise when he initially conceived of it and he certainly got his wish. Damien: Omen II followed two years later, costing a little over twice what the original did ($25 million budget) to make, but sadly not pulling in near as much as its predecessor. The final tally landed somewhere in the ballpark of $88 million domestically.

This drop in grosses did not dissuade parent studio 20^th Century Fox from continuing the demonic saga of series protagonist Damien Thorn, however. A third film followed three years later, in the form of the Sam Neill-starring Omen III: The Final Conflict. Fox was wise to cut back on the budget from a business standpoint, granting the film a little over $13 million to play around with. The final box office tally for its domestic run fell around $54 million.

Diminishing returns had definitely set in financially, so it’s no wonder that the journey stopped there, at least momentarily. Creatively, the existing films (at least the original three) are still filled with iconic sequences and interesting themes, with much territory still left to mine within the property. Financially, finding a way to revive and rejuvenate the IP also makes sense. After all, the four theatrical installments to date have racked up over $410 million in the U.S. alone. That’s over five times their collective cost, which sits at around $80 million.

Because of this, it came as no surprise to me when Fox announced earlier this year that a prequel film, The First Omen, had been placed into development. Whether or not it will succeed where its television brethren (and the 2006 remake) have failed when it comes revitalizing this horror franchise is anyone’s guess. That is, of course, assuming that it even makes it off the ground. Then again, it’s hard to imagine that the studio won’t find some way of cinematically threatening the rise of the horror genre's most famous version of the Antichrist once more. After all, they’ve already revived Planet of the Apes and Alien, and have Predator waiting in the wings for a return to the big time. If they can live again on a giant screen in cinemas across the nation, why couldn’t “the Beast” accomplish the same? After all, it's all for Damien, right?