New details were released about the long-awaited movie—which will be titled The First Omen—that revealed it will be an origin story that unveils Damien's roots.
The original The Omen movie, which has gained a cult following since its 1976 release, was directed by Richard Donner. It told the story of a couple whose child dies shortly after birth, leading them to adopt a newborn whose mother died. The child they adopt is named Damien, and the couple eventually discovers that he is the Antichrist. The film was a box office hit that ended up spawning three sequels as well as a 2006 remake, the latter starred Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber. In 2016, there was a brief A&E series titled Damien, starring Bradley James as an adult Damien.
In The Omen, it's suggested that Damien was born from a jackal that died while giving birth to him. The First Omen will surely further detail Damien's origins, hopefully providing more information on his conception and detailing why he acts the way he does. There are also other routes the movie might take; perhaps it will focus on the couple's story before they adopt Damien, or maybe it will touch on other demonic children who came before Damien. Even so, these new details are enough to spark anticipation, but as the movie has been in purgatory for a while, there's still cause for concern about whether the project will ever come to fruition, and when The First Omen could release.
Why The Movie Is Taking So Long To Make
Horror movie fans have indeed been awaiting The Omen prequel for several years, with production in a stalled state since 2016. the studio was acquired by The Walt Disney Company. Recently, though, the writers announced that their planned prequel might finally be awakening from its dormancy and diving into production. "We did the prequel to The Omen, which is also sitting over at Fox, that, rumor has it, that it is going into production," Chad told ComicBook.com. Carey added, "We get to tell you where Damien came from. It was really fun. That was great."
While the screenwriters certainly sound optimistic about the future of The Omen prequel, horror fans should probably expect further delays stemming from the Fox and Disney merger. This is partly because Disney is continuing to grapple with how it should handle the R-rated franchises they've acquired from Fox. Also, the lack of concrete details that have been released about the project probably mean it's in the very early stages of creation. Another potential obstacle will be how productions go back to work, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Movie theaters are suffering due to continually delayed releases, which could mean a packed schedule for years to come. There also has been less financial success from movies that have released during Coronavirus, which adds to an ongoing list of industry troubles. Regardless, news of The Omen prequel still being in development is good news, and could mean the project is about to get underway.
