The First Omen’s $18.8M Box Office Bomb Dashes My Hopes Of A 43-Year-Old Horror Mistake Being Fixed

Warning: Major spoilers for The First Omen below!

A First Omen trilogy has the opportunity to correct a mistake the franchise made the first time around, but the prequel’s box office may have spoiled that chance. Before Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees began their slasher reigns, Damien was one of the genre’s first icons. Of course, he was only a child in the original, with the subsequent sequels charting his teen years before culminating with Sam Neill playing adult Damien in The Final Conflict. While the Antichrist rarely got his hands dirty, his demonic forces tended to dispatch those who opposed him under the guise of gory accidents.

The First Omen is a prequel to the original trilogy, detailing the weeks leading up to his birth. This Arkasha Stevenson-directed entry uncovers previously unknown details surrounding Damien’s birth, and how an American nun named Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) played a role. The prequel has received surprisingly strong reviews, while The First Omen’s ending sets up a potential sequel. Time will tell where The Omen movie franchise heads next, though the prequel’s finale teased an exciting new direction.

A First Omen Trilogy Can Fix The Final Conflict’s Mistake By Making Damien President

The Omen trilogy resisted its most obvious storyline

The original Omen franchise hinted at Damien’s political future on two occasions. The original ended with young Damien holding the hand of the President at his father Robert’s (Gregory Peck) funeral, while the posters and trailers for 1981’s The Final Conflict heavily implied he would become President of the United States. Having the Antichrist rise to the office of President felt like the most obvious route for the series to take, but for some bizarre reason, The Omen 3 backed off this idea.

Instead of becoming President, the third film saw Damien trying to prevent the second coming of Jesus while working as the U.S. Ambassador to the UK, like his “father” Robert before him. This storyline still played into the idea of Damien’s rising through the world of politics, but there was a decided lack of stakes to The Final Conflict’s setup. A First Omen trilogy could change that, however. The prequel did nothing to retcon the events of the 1976 original, but it still has the chance to fix the mistakes of The Omen 3.

The First Omen’s big twist reveals Damien was born alongside a twin sister. While the faction of the Catholic Church behind Damien’s birth left the girl to die in a fire alongside her mother Margaret, the ending reveals they both escaped and went into hiding. This will likely form the basis for a sequel, but a potential third film (The Final Omen is a title just waiting to be claimed) could focus on Damien’s rise to the Presidency. Once in office, there is no telling how the son of Satan would use his role to bring about Hell on Earth.

The First Omen Sequel Needs To Follow Damien’s Sister

The First Omen’s shock ending can’t be ignored

It appeared The First Omen faced an impossible sequel challenge before its release, considering its canonical ties with the original series. The twin sister reveal has changed that, so while the events of the first film shouldn’t be touched, the second and third installments could still be reworked. A First Omen sequel needs to explore the ties between Damien and his sister, who despite being siblings, appear destined to become enemies.

Omen IV: The Awakening already played with the idea of a female Antichrist, with this made-for-TV sequel following Damien’s daughter. That said, the fourth chapter is easily the weakest of the series, while the exciting thing about a possible First Omen sequel is that it has no real roadmap. Presumably, it would involve Margaret and her daughter trying to stop Damien from fulfilling his destiny while exploring the complicated family dynamics that arise from that.

Damien vs his demonic sister is a strong hook, so the next entry shouldn’t ignore it or try to skip ahead. Even so, the third film should still explore the untapped potential of Damien becoming President. It’s simply too juicy of an idea, and it remains baffling that The Final Conflict discarded the setup.

Will The First Omen Receive A Sequel?

The prequel’s box-office performance is a disappointment

The First Omen’s Rotten Tomatoes score is a healthy 80% rating. Not only is that a solid score for any horror film, but as a belated prequel to a horror classic, it’s almost unheard of. Even so, the movie has been a box-office letdown following its opening weekend, as The First Omen grossed $18.8 million worldwide on an estimated $30 million (via The Numbers). Positive word of mouth will hopefully pump up those numbers, but those aren’t the kind of grosses that instill confidence in a studio.

Regardless of the numbers, the prequel is still a great horror movie and ends on an intriguing, sequel-baiting note. There is at least one more story left to be told in the franchise, and with some luck, a possible third film could correct a decades-old mistake. Like Damien himself, the series is somewhat unkillable, so a First Omen sequel happening shouldn’t be discounted just yet.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers