20 Things You Didn't Know About The Omen

The Omen opened, officially, on June 25th in the US, grossing over $60 million domestically on a meager budget of just 2.8. Its success was largely credited to the PR marketing push, inspired in scope by Jaws but in practice by a cynical, bottom-line business decision. But like any good horror story, it didn't end there.

It was the fifth-largest film of the year, and naturally called for a sequel. Damien: Omen II came out in 1978 and followed the young spawn of satan into his teenage years where he attends a strict military school run by Lance Henriksen. The success of the first caught the attention of an actor that previously turned down the project - William Holden played Damien Thorn's ill-fated uncle.

The film went into full-on franchise mode with The Final Conflict: The Omen III. In keeping with the first two film's desire to keep the casting high-brow, they approached James Mason for the role of a grown Damien Thorn, now a powerful and influential CEO. Mason declined, but suggested for the role his mentee - a young, then-unknown New Zealander named Sam Neill.

But producer Harvey Bernhard, who had initially brought the idea to fruition, wasn't quite done with the material. Omen IV: The Awakening was released as a Canadian TV movie, though it was intended as pilot for a longer series. It was the last film Bernhard would produce.

Seltzer returned for a paint-by-numbers remake with Liev Schieber in 2006, and a failed TV series entitled Damien in the spirit of The Exorcist and Bates Motel debuted on A & E for one season.

But if one really wants a deep dive into the treasure trove of The Omen's history, the novels go further. First started as a novelization of his script by Seltzer, the novelizations continued under Joseph Howard and finally Gordon McGill, who appears to have taken the franchise in an entirely different direction after Omen III.

He released Omen IV: Armaggedon 2000 in 1983 and Omen V: The Abomination in 1985.