2024 Horror Movie With 81% RT Score Crosses Global Box Office Milestone After Initial Struggle

Summary The First Omen crosses $50 million box office mark with positive reviews, but still falls short of other films in the horror franchise.

The First Omen has recevied positive reviews, getting an 81% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

To reach profitability, The First Omen needs to double its budget with $60 million box office total, with increasingly slim chances of reaching that goal.

The First Omen manages to get past a major box office milestone despite a tough track record. The First Omen is a prequel to the classic 1970s horror film The Omen. Its plot focuses on the story of a young woman named Magaret who is sent off to a convent in Rome in order to begin a pious lifestyle, only to discover a darkness in the church that leads her to uncover a terrifying conspiracy and question her faith.

As per Collider, The First Omen has now crossed a major box office milestone. The First Omen has now made it past the $50 million mark at the global box office. Its total is comprised of just over $31 million overseas and around $19 million at the domestic box office.

The First Omen’s Lackluster Box Office Explained

Image via 20th Century Studios

Up until this point, The First Omen’s box office has been a disappointment. Made on an estimated $30 million budget, the horror film saw a slow start as it opened to a lackluster $8.5 million in theaters. This fate was particularly disappointing, seeing as The First Omen received positive reviews. The First Omen scored an 81% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes and a 69% approval rating among fans. Both of these scores made The First Omen the second-highest reviewed film in the horror franchise, losing out only to the original 1976 The Omen.

The First Omen’s box office may have been hurt by the release of Immaculate a few weeks prior. Also focusing on darkness that overtakes an Italian convent when an American woman arrives there, Immaculate had a lot of overlapping themes with The First Omen. Because Immaculate came out first, it may have overshadowed The First Omen, and felt derivative to fans given the similar content. Immaculate’s performance in theaters has still been slow, however, as its worldwide box office total is only $21.9 million at the time of writing.

Related Every Omen Movie Ranked, Worst to Best The Omen franchise is one of the horror genre's most iconic, though the six movies in the series thus far vary wildly in terms of quality.

Even with its new box office milestone, The First Omen still pales in comparison to other films in the series. The 2006 remake of The Omen, which was hated by critics and fans, still made $119.9 million worldwide. This total is more than double what The First Omen has made to date.

RT Critics Score RT Audience Score The Omen (1976) 86% 81% Damien - The Omen II (1978) 48% 49% Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) 29% 33% Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) 17% 23% The Omen (2006) 26% 40% The First Omen (2024) 81% 69%

As The First Omen finishes out its theatrical run, its chances of fully making back its budget are getting slimmer. Typically, a film needs to have a worldwide gross of around double its budget in order to be considered profitable. For The First Omen, this would situate its box office goal at roughly $60 million. While adding $10 million is possible, those chances would hinge on The First Omen maintaining significant momentum as it approaches its one-month-in-theaters release marker.

Source: Collider