Summary
It’s been a delight to see the brilliantThe First Omenfind such a massive streaming audience after earning well below what it deserved to make at the box office. Set in a troubled Rome in 1971,The First Omenrevolves around an American novitiate named Margaret Daino, who’s sent to work alongside nuns and priests at a mysterious orphanage. While she’s there, she uncovers a sinister conspiracy within the church to impregnate the offspring of a jackal demon with the Antichrist to get church attendance numbers back up.
Franchise reboots tend to be uninspired retreads of familiar storylines, anda prequel toThe Omenabout the birth of Damien sounds totally unnecessary on paper. ButThe First Omenhas emerged as one of the finest horror films of the year. It’s full of genuinely effective scares and director Arkasha Stevenson does a terrific job of using the horror to explore the poignant theme of female bodily agency. AfterThe First Omendisappointed at the box office, it’s been great to see it reach the wide audience it deserves with a second life on streaming.
The First Omen Is Now A Streaming Hit, Just 2 Months After It Debuted In Theaters
The Omen prequel has found a new audience on streaming
Since it debuted on Hulu and other online platforms,The First Omenhas become a streaming hit.It was ranked as the sixth most popular title across all streaming platforms on the week of May 30 to June 5, and it’s continued to pick up new viewers since then. It’s become a new phenomenon in recent years (especially post-COVID) for a movie to disappoint at the box office, then find a huge audience when it reaches streaming. This happened withThe Suicide Squad,Lightyear,The Matrix Resurrections,Turning Red, andWonder Woman 1984.
10 Scariest Moments In The First Omen
From a gut-wrenching possession scene to a public self-immolation, The First Omen is full of terrifying moments that won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Why The First Omen’s Box Office Was Disappointing
It grossed $53.8 million at the box office
During its theatrical run,The First Omengrossed $20,092,802 at the domestic box office and $33,753,078 internationally, for a worldwide total of $53,845,880 (viaBox Office Mojo). $53.8 million isn’t a bad haul by any means, especially for an R-rated horror movie in a competitive market in a post-COVID world. Butwhat madeThe First Omena box office disappointment was its steep budget of $30 million(viaVariety). Horror outlets like A24 and Blumhouse manage to consistently profit from their theatrical runs by giving most of their horror films a budget of less than $10 million.
ButThe First Omenis a big studio movie and an entry in a long-running franchise. It takes place in 1971, which meant sourcing a lot of period costumes and vintage cars, which don’t come cheap. Typically, to account for marketing and exhibition costs, a movie needs to gross 2.5 times its budget in order to turn a profit. By that logic,The First Omenwould’ve had to make around $75 million to be considered a box office success. It’s not a total bomb, but it is a financial disappointment for the studio.
Where To Watch The First Omen
The Omen horror movie franchise has returned, and there are different options for where to watch The First Omen at home on streaming or digitally.
The First Omen Deserves To Be A Bigger Success
It’s much better than the average horror reboot
It’s great thatThe First Omenhas found a new audience in the streaming space, because it deserved to be a much bigger success than it was. It’s a really good horror movie at a time when those are sadly few and far between. Its jump scares, creepy atmosphere, and eerie sound design were tailor-made for big-screen consumption. While it’s a shame that,despite its positive reviews,The First Omenwasn’t a bigger hit in theaters, a hefty streaming audience is a nice consolation prize. At least it’s being seen by the size of audience it deserves.
A movie about Damien’s birth might sound unnecessary, butunlike a lot of horror franchise reboots,The First Omenactually justifies its existence.The Exorcist: Believerwas just a generic possession movie that fundamentally misunderstood the Chris MacNeil character;The Strangers: Chapter 1is practically a shot-for-shot remake of the original (but much, much less effective as a home invasion thriller); and 2018’sSuspiriais a much more long-winded, much less scary remake of the Dario Argento classic. ButThe First Omenactually adds toThe Omenmovies’ mythology and stands as a terrifying horror film in its own right.
Stevenson proves herself to be an exciting new voice in horror cinema with her directorial debut.Nell Tiger Free gives an incredible lead performance in the role of Margaret, combining the everywoman charms of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode with the all-out demonic terror of Isabelle Adjani inPossession. In a saturated market where great movies often go unnoticed, it’s a relief to seeThe First Omenreaching the audience it deserves.
The First Omen
Cast
The First Omen is a horror film from director Arkasha Stevenson that acts as a prequel to the 1976 film The Omen. The film follows a young woman who goes to Rome to become a nun but begins to question her faith after encountering a terrifying darkness that aims to spawn an evil incarnate.
