The Big Picture
-
The First Omen
surpasses $50 million worldwide, despite underperforming at the box office domestically. - Positive reviews have unfortunately not translated to box office success for the horror film.
- Legacy franchises face often challenges with inflation impacting box office success, as seen with
The First Omen
.
There’s a silver lining to The First Omen’s otherwise disappointing box office run after all. This weekend — its fourth in theaters — the sixth installment in the long-running horror series passed its first real milestone at the global box office, as it nears the end of its run domestically. The well-reviewed film was originally designed as a streaming project before the positive internal response convinced Disney-owned 20th Century Studios to give it a theatrical debut. And the results have been mixed.
With a little under $19 million domestically and another $31 million from overseas markets, The First Omen has now passed the $50 million mark worldwide. The movie was reportedly produced on a budget of $30 million, which can’t exactly be described as shoestring. It’s more in line with what Universal spent on director David Gordon Green’s Halloween reboots, and also his recent Exorcist sequel, The Exorcist: Believer. Another IP-driven follow-up to a wildly popular horror franchise that began in the 1970s, The Exorcist: Believer was considered a box office disappointment, with planned future installments seemingly being delayed.
The First Omen has proven to be an even bigger box office under-performer, which is slightly disappointing, considering how well it was received. A prequel to Richard Donner’s classic 1976 The Omen, the film holds an 81% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote that the film “gets under your skin with uncomfortable scenes that won’t leave you any time soon.” But despite this, The First Omen is among a string of recent horror movies that haven’t lived up to expectations at the box office, which is unusual for the otherwise lucrative genre.
‘The First Omen’ Has Been More Successful Overseas Than in North America
The last few weeks have witnessed films such as Imaginary, and more recently, Abigail, also underperforming at the box office. Directed by Michael Mohan and starring Sydney Sweeney, the film Immaculate serves as an interesting case study, seeing as it’s based on a very similar premise to that of The First Omen. Also about an American nun who witnesses demonic horror in Italy, Immaculate appears to have ended its global box office run with under $20 million, despite Sweeney’s newfound stardom and marketing acumen.
It’s always difficult to gauge the success of films that are part of legacy franchises because inflation plays a key role in box office success. But that being said, Donner’s classic made more in 1976 dollars than The First Omen has now. In fact, the 2006 reboot, starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles, remains the series’ top-grossing installment, with a global box office haul of $120 million, against a reported budget of $25 million.
Directed by debutante Arkasha Stevenson and starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sônia Braga, Ralph Ineson, and Bill Nighy, The First Omen is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and grab your tickets below.
The First Omen
A young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
- Release Date
- April 5, 2024
- Director
- Arkasha Stevenson
- Writers
- Tim Smith , Arkasha Stevenson , Keith Thomas , Ben Jacoby , David Seltzer
