The Omen (franchise)

Last updated

The Omen
Das Omen Logo.png
Logo of the first film
Created by David Seltzer
Original work The Omen (1976)
Owner 20th Century Studios
Years1976–present
Print publications
Novel(s)
  • The Omen (1976)
  • Damien – Omen II (1978)
  • The Final Conflict (1980)
  • Omen IV: Armageddon 2000 (1982)
  • Omen V: The Abomination (1985)
Films and television
Film(s)
Television series

The Omen is a media franchise, centering on a series of supernatural horror films, which began in 1976. The series centers on Damien Thorn, a child born of Satan and given to Robert and Katherine Thorn as a child. It is revealed among families that Damien is in fact meant to be the Antichrist, and as an adult is attempting to gain control of the Thorn business and reach for the presidency.

Contents

Films

YearTitleDirectorsWritersProducersRuntime
Original series
1976 The Omen Richard Donner David Seltzer Harvey Bernhard 111 min
1978 Damien - Omen II Don Taylor Stanley Mann and Mike Hodges 107 min
1981 The Final Conflict Graham Baker Andrew Birkin Harvey Bernhard and Richard Donner108 min
1991 Omen IV: The Awakening Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Girard Harvey BernhardHarvey Bernhard and Mace Neufeld 97 min
2024 The First Omen Arkasha Stevenson Tim Smith
Arkasha Stevenson
Keith Thomas 		David S. Goyer and Keith Levine119 min
Remake
2006 The Omen John Moore David SeltzerGlen Williamsonn and John Moore107 min

The Omen is the original film in the series, directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. The story introduces Robert Thorn, the American Ambassador in Italy who adopts the newborn Damien to replace the newborn that he has been told was stillborn. When Damien reaches the age of five as Robert is transferred to Britain, strange events unfold, beginning with the boy's nanny committing suicide during his birthday party. Soon afterward Robert encounters Father Brennan, a Catholic priest who was present at Damien's birth, who attempts to warn him that the child would eventually kill him and his wife; Brennan soon dies, impaled by a falling church spire. Only after Robert's wife Katherine ends up hospitalized with a miscarriage does he come to believe Brennan; Robert and a photographer named Jennings then travel to Rome, where they learn that Damien is the Antichrist, and that the death of Robert's child was arranged so the Antichrist child could be raised by a politician. In the meantime, Katherine Thorn is murdered by Mrs. Baylock, Damien's second nanny, who in reality is a member of the Satanists who arranged Damien's upbringing, and will kill in order to suppress any threat to him. Arriving in Megiddo to find Bugenhagen, an exorcist and archaeologist, Robert is presented with the only means to kill Damien: the Seven Daggers of Megiddo. Though he initially refuses, it takes both the death of Jennings and discovering the Mark of the Beast on Damien's head to convince Robert to go through with it. Despite killing Mrs. Baylock after a struggle, Robert is killed by the authorities before he can kill Damien.

The second film, Damien - Omen II , starts with Bugenhagen attempting to send Richard[ who? ] a package, but he and his friend Morris end up being buried alive in Megiddo. [1] The audience is then introduced to Richard's son Mark and his second wife Ann. Now a teenager, Damien attends military school alongside Mark, while his subconscious, manifesting in the form of a raven, kills Richard's aunt Marion, Jennings's friend Joan Hart, and Thorn Industries manager Bill Atherton. Atherton's death is beneficial for senior manager Paul Buher, another member of the Satanist group Baylock was part of. Another member, Sgt. Neff, guides Damien to learn his true nature by advising him to read the Book of Revelation. Though fearful of it at first, unconsciously killing Dr. David Pasarian and a medical physician who tested his blood, Damien comes to accept his fate as he begins to consciously kill anyone who stands in his way, including his cousin Mark and Dr. Charles Warren. Though Richard accepted the truth upon receiving the Daggers of Megiddo from Bugenhagen's package, he is murdered by Ann; Damien then kills her, despite her being one of his disciples. [2]

The third film, The Final Conflict , follows the adult Damien, now head of his uncle's company and arranging his position as American Ambassador in Britain to prevent the Second Coming—which would gradually weaken his powers—by having his followers slaughter every male British child born on March 24. Though he managed to kill six of the seven monks who each brandish a Dagger of Megiddo, their leader Father DeCarlo lives. Damien unknowingly causes his own downfall by his association with a journalist named Kate Reynolds who kills him at his moment of weakness. As Damien's death did not occur in the manner that Bugenhagen learned, the Antichrist only suffered a temporary demise. [3]

In the fourth film of the original series, Omen IV: The Awakening , it is revealed that Damien's followers arranged for his biological daughter Delia to be adopted by two attorneys, Gene and Karen York. While nothing seems wrong at first, compared to her father, Delia is fully aware of her powers as she terrorizes her mother Karen. Karen finds herself pregnant and hires a private detective to find out about Delia's lineage. Along the way, she believes Delia is the Antichrist. A string of bizarre accidental deaths follows, before Karen gives birth to her son Alexander while falling into a paranoia as she tries to reveal her daughter's true identity. With the help of the private detective, Karen learns that Delia is the daughter of Damien Thorn while holding her family doctor, Dr. Hastings, at gunpoint. Upon learning Dr. Hastings is a Satanist, Karen learns that the reborn Antichrist is actually Alexander: Delia's twin brother whose embryo was inside Delia the entire time and implanted into Karen by Hastings. Though Karen adamantly wished to kill Alexander and tries to do so, the baby's powers cause her to commit suicide, leaving Alexander and Delia still alive to continue their birth father's work. [4]

The 2006 remake of the first film, also titled The Omen , was directed and produced by John Moore. Starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles, the film was met with mixed reviews but general box office success. With a budget of $25 million, the film grossed $54 million domestic and $64 million in other territories, totalling $119 million.

A prequel to the first film, titled The First Omen , was directed by Arkasha Stevenson and released in 2024. The film stars Nell Tiger Free as an American woman who is sent to work at a church in Rome but quickly uncovers a conspiracy to bring about the birth of the Antichrist. [5] The film was met with positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $53 million internationally.

Cast

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

CharacterFilmsTelevision series
Original seriesPrequelRemake
The Omen Damien
Omen II 		Omen III
The Final Conflict 		Omen IV
The Awakening 		The First Omen The Omen Damien
1976197819811991202420062016
Damien Thorn Harvey Spencer Stephens
Noel O'Connell Y
Uncredited infant Y 		Jonathan Scott-Taylor Sam Neill Harvey Spencer Stephens A Uncredited infant Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick
Tomas Woller Y 		Bradley James
Harvey Spencer Stephens Y A
Robert Thorn Gregory Peck Uncredited actor Y P MentionedGregory Peck P Liev Schreiber Gregory Peck A
Katherine "Kathy" Thorn Lee Remick Mentioned Rachel Hurd-Wood Julia Stiles Lee Remick A
Carl Bugenhagen Leo McKern Leo McKern U Michael Gambon Leo McKern A
Mrs. Willa Baylock Billie Whitelaw Mia Farrow Billie Whitelaw A
Keith Jennings David Warner David Thewlis David Warner A
Father Brennan Patrick Troughton Ralph Ineson Pete Postlethwaite Patrick Troughton A
Father Spiletto Martin Benson Anton Alexander Giovanni Lombardo Radice Martin Benson A
Brother MatteusTommy DugganTommy Duggan
Nanny Holly Palance Holly Palance V Amy HuckHolly Palance A
U.S. President Gerald Ford A Mason Adams
Ann Thorn (née Rutledge) Lee Grant Barbara Hershey

Reception

Box office performance

FilmRelease dateBox office revenueBudgetReferences
United StatesInternationalWorldwide
The Omen (1976)June 6, 1976$60,922,980$17,800,000 R $78,722,980$2.8 million [6] [7] [8]
Damien - Omen IIJune 9, 1978$26,518,355$8,500,000 R $35,018,355$6.8 million [6] [9] [8]
The Final ConflictMarch 20, 1981$20,471,382—$20,471,382$5 million [6] [10]
The Omen (2006)June 6, 2006$54,607,383$64,889,140$119,496,523$25 million [11]
The First OmenApril 5, 2024$20,054,832$33,320,788$53,375,620$30 million [12]
Total$182,574,932$124,509,928$307,084,860$69.6 million
List indicator(s)

R  Distributor rentals. [a] In the US/Canada, The Omen had rentals of $28.5 million and Damien – Omen II $12.1 million. If the ratio of gross to rental applied to the international rental, the films grossed approximately $99 million and $45 million worldwide respectively.

  • A dark grey cell indicates the information is not available for the film.
  • Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) has been excluded from the list as it was not released theatrically.

Critical response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
The Omen (1976)84% (51 reviews) [13] 62 (11 reviews) [14]
Damien - Omen II48% (27 reviews) [15] 45 (9 reviews) [16]
The Final Conflict29% (21 reviews) [17] 34 (9 reviews) [18]
Omen IV: The Awakening17% (6 reviews) [19] —
The Omen (2006)26% (168 reviews) [20] 43 (34 reviews) [21]
The First Omen81% (151 reviews) [22] 65 (33 reviews) [23]

Television

The Omen (1995)

A television pilot titled The Omen aired on NBC in September 8, 1995. Directed by Jack Sholder and written by John Leekley, the hour-long episode was intended as an attempt to develop The Omen film series into a television series. Although Donner was attached to the project as an executive producer, the pilot failed and the series never moved forward. [24] Unrelated to the previous films, The Omen follows a group of people who are tracking down an entity to which they are all independently linked. [25]

Damien (2016)

A television series called Damien was in development at the network Lifetime before it was moved to A&E with Bradley James starring in the title role. [26] [27] [28] The series aired from March 7 to May 9, 2016. The series, acting as a direct sequel to the original film, follows 30 year old Damien, who has forgotten his demonic past, facing his true identity. Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey), who has protected Damien all his life, helps him embrace his Antichrist side.

Storyline continuity

The Omen story chronology
Original continuity
Alternate continuity
Remake continuity

Novels

There are five novels in The Omen series, the first three being novelizations of their film counterparts:

Other media

Three documentaries regarding the series have been made: 666: The Omen - Revealed (2000), The Omen: Legacy (2001), and The Curse of The Omen (2005).

The 1976 film was also remade in Tamil as Jenma Natchathram (1991).

Notes

  1. ↑ The gross rental is the distributor's share of the box-office gross and was more commonly reported than the exhibition gross up to the 1970s.

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The Omen is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spencer Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson, and Leo McKern. The film's plot follows Damien Thorn, a young child replaced at birth by his father, unbeknownst to his wife, after their biological child dies shortly after birth. As a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family and Damien enters childhood, they come to learn he is in fact the prophesied Antichrist.

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References

  1. ↑ Donner, Richard (Director) (1976). The Omen (DVD). Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. OCLC   70171384.
  2. ↑ Taylor, Don and Hodges, Mike (Directors) (1978). Damien – Omen II (DVD). Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. OCLC   45111331.
  3. ↑ Baker, Graham (Director) (1981). The Final Conflict (DVD). Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. OCLC   45273673.
  4. ↑ Montesi, Jorge and Othenin-Girard, Dominique (Directors) (1991). Omen IV: The Awakening (DVD). Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. OCLC   76878002.
  5. ↑ Grobar, Matt (January 3, 2024). "'The First Omen' Trailer: Nell Tiger Free Encounters Evil In Rome In 20th Century Studios Prequel". Deadline. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p259
  7. ↑ "The Omen (1976)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Satan Back Again; Fox Sets Omen III". Variety . November 21, 1979. p. 34.
  9. ↑ "Damien: The Omen Part II". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The Final Conflict: Omen III (1981)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Omen (2006)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ "The First Omen". the numbers. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  13. ↑ "The Omen (1976)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  14. ↑ "The Omen" – via www.metacritic.com.
  15. ↑ "Damien – Omen II (1978)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Damien – Omen II" – via www.metacritic.com.
  17. ↑ "The Final Conflict (1981)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  18. ↑ "The Final Conflict" – via www.metacritic.com.
  19. ↑ "Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  20. ↑ "The Omen (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  21. ↑ "The Omen Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  22. ↑ "The First Omen". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  23. ↑ "The First Omen". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  24. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (August 25, 2014). "Glen Mazzara's 'Omen' Follow-Up 'Damien' Ordered Straight to Series at Lifetime". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  25. ↑ "The Omen". Brett Cullen Official Web Site. Archived from the original on January 30, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  26. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (December 3, 2014). "Bradley James To Play Lead In Lifetime's 'The Omen' Sequel Series 'Damien'; Shekhar Kapur To Direct". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  27. ↑ Barkan, Jonathan (April 29, 2015). ""Damien" Moves From Lifetime To A&E: Gets Four More Episodes". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  28. ↑ Maas, Jennifer. "Lifetime's The Omen-inspired series Damien moves to A&E". Entertainment Weekly . Time Inc. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
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