MovieChat Forums > Damien: Omen II (1978) Discussion > Confusing box-office trivia: sequel can...

Confusing box-office trivia: sequel canceled

posted 9 years ago by InherentlyYours
5 replies | jump to latest

It say a another sequel was planned, but canceled due to this not doing as well as expected, yet which figure below is the true gross, the "rentals" or the 26 million figure?

Budget
$6,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend
$3,880,880 (USA) (11 June 1978) (525 Screens)

Gross
$3,880,880 (USA) (11 June 1978)
$26,518,355 (USA) ( 1978)
SEK 1,331,227 (Sweden)

Weekend Gross
$3,880,880 (USA) (11 June 1978) (525 Screens)

Admissions
74,291 (Sweden)

Rentals
$13,600,000 (USA)

[–] rascal67 9 years ago

Those figures can be confusing on IMDB. The rentals, may be after theatrical and VHS release. $26mill isn't bad and that is almost 4 times the budget, plus they would have had worldwide takings to add. They must've anticipated a massive hit, like the first and then got cold feet. They did make a third sequel in 81, with Sam Neil as Damien. Did they mean, a sequel with Jonathan-Scott Taylor?

[–] InherentlyYours 9 years ago

'Did they mean, a sequel with Jonathan-Scott Taylor?'
---------------------
I don't know.
Was twice the budget evident on the screen?

[–] rascal67 9 years ago

Was twice the budget evident on the screen?
______________

I thought about that and can't decide. With the exception of the opening, filmed in Israel, the rest of the film was shot in the US. Gregory Peck, apparently only got paid $250,000.00 for the first OMEN and 10% of the box office, which was very lucrative for him. At the time, it made him the highest paid actor, due to the deal. They may have paid higher salaries for this sequel, anticipating a smash hit. I would have to view again, to see where all the money went. Maybe, the special effects sequences were considered more elaborate, therefore more expensive???

It was over twice the budget as the first and only 2 years apart, so go figure.

[–] MovieKnut 9 years ago

Did they mean, a sequel with Jonathan-Scott Taylor?

Yes, there was the intention to film another sequel with Jonathan-Scott Taylor. This was abandoned as the studio was disappointed with the box office returns for Damien: Omen II.

You can't palm off a second-rater on me. You gotta remember I was in the pink!

[–] rhiron 8 years ago

It would have been great to have had another JS-T Omen sequel. I've heard that it was meant to feature Damien as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford (which Kate Reynolds briefly mentions in her bio of Damien in 'The Final Conflict').

Personally, I don't mind that the bulk of 'Omen II' takes place in and around Chicago (the Thorns are meant to be an American family, after all). A potential third film with Damien still young could possibly have given him more of a conscience, dealing with his murder of Mark and Ann, living up to the expectations of him and overseeing the Thprn businesses and the land purchase subplot of this film, dealing with the consequences of the OTT deaths in this film and of the 'disappearance' of his aunt and uncle and, although it is always fun in the first two films to see Gregory Peck and William Holden in a desperate rush to try and kill the boy, leaving him in the guardianship of either Buher or (less likely) Neff (billionaire in the making or not, he is still a minor at the the end of the film) and placing them in conflict instead. It could have been very interesting and different in its own way. Maybe moody and brooding are the words I'm looking for?

But this film is still great fun and so rewatchable!