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James Mottram

Alongside The Exorcist, The Omen is one of cinema’s longest-running and most successful horror franchises.
The satanic-themed story about the birth of the Antichrist has been spun into four films, a remake, a TV series and now a prequel.
This week sees the release of The First Omen – set in Rome before events of the original 1976 film.
Directed by Arkasha Stevenson, it is the first addition to the franchise since A&E’s 2016 television show Damien – and proves that this Hollywood supernatural series is every bit as resilient as the Devil himself.
To get you back up to speed, here is our guide to all things Omen.
The original


“Look at me, Damien … it’s all for you!”
The first death in The Omen is one of the most chilling, as Damien Thorn’s nanny hangs herself at his fifth birthday party, setting the tone perfectly for this most unsettling of horror films.
The secretly adopted child of the American ambassador to Britain, Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) and his wife Kathy (Lee Remick), the young Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens) is revealed to be the Antichrist, a figure so powerful that death and devastation befall anyone who threatens his presence.

Smartly directed by Richard Donner, who would make Superman two years later, the 1976 film had an impressive British cast – including David Warner, Leo McKern, Billie Whitelaw, and Patrick Troughton, the latter famous for being the second actor to portray Doctor Who in the long-running BBC series of that name.
The reviews were mixed, but it hardly mattered – the film became one of the most successful movies of 1976. The Omen was nominated for two Oscars – for Jerry Goldsmith’s score and theme song, “Ave Satani”.
Goldsmith, the composer behind music for Chinatown, Planet of the Apes and the Rambo franchise, was nominated 18 times for Academy Awards over his career, but his win for best score for The Omen was the only time he claimed an Oscar.


The sequels
Two years after The Omen, the first sequel arrived in cinemas. Damien: Omen II shows the Antichrist as a young man (played by Jonathan Scott-Taylor), now attending a military academy and becoming increasingly aware of his satanic powers.
Originally directed by Mike Hodges (Get Carter), who left the film in its early stages, it was completed by Don Taylor, who did a competent job – especially in the scene, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, where an inquisitive reporter is savaged by a crow.
Again, the film was characterised by gruesome deaths – most notably, a doctor caught in a lift accident and sliced in two by a falling cable.


Arriving in 1981, the third in the series, Omen III: The Final Conflict, was scripted by Andrew Birkin, who would go on to co-write The Name of the Rose.
Damien, now an adult, is reinvented as a slick corporate raider, the CEO of Thorn Industries, with political ambitions. Intriguingly, he’s played by future Jurassic Park star Sam Neill – a breakthrough role for the New Zealand actor, who lends Damien real dead-eyed menace.
While the character attempts to stop the Second Coming of Christ, it clearly wasn’t the final conflict as, a decade later, tele-movie Omen IV: The Awakening, was released.


With the story provided by series producer Harvey Bernhard, this time it’s a little girl, Delia, who appears to be the successor to Damien. The reviews were savage, with the Los Angeles Times calling it “witless, visually dull and slow-moving”.
The books
Cashing in on the success of the films, a book series was launched.
The first, written by David Seltzer, was a novelisation of the original movie, which Seltzer had penned. Two more followed: Damien: Omen II (written by Joseph Howard) and The Final Conflict (by Gordon McGill). McGill then went on to publish two further books in the series.

With Damien reborn, Armageddon 2000 (published in 1982) was set to be the template for Omen IV: Armageddon – a film due out in 1984 that was ultimately cancelled because of various behind-the-scenes issues.
McGill’s final book in the series, The Abomination: Omen V, was released in 1985. With Damien’s son now a force to be reckoned with, McGill’s story also tapped into fears about nuclear conflict that were very prominent in the 1980s.
The remake


Original writer David Seltzer returned for this rather pointless, straight-up remake of the film he wrote, scripting it for Irish filmmaker John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) to direct.
No question Moore found a classy cast, with Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles playing the Thorns and Mia Farrow hired for the role of the nanny Mrs Baylock – a nice allusion to the actress’ turn in Roman Polanski’s demonic shocker Rosemary’s Baby.
There were nods to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terror attacks, but these contemporary updates added little to the story.
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Surprisingly, it did reasonably at the box office, taking US$119 million worldwide, but the critics were less than impressed by this humdrum retread.
“It amounts to a kind of cinematic karaoke,” remarked The Guardian. “The devil may have all the best tunes, but they sound a little wearing the second time around.”
The TV series
Four years after Omen IV, a failed TV pilot was made in an attempt to launch a tele-series, with Richard Donner initially attached as an executive producer.
Simply titled The Omen, it starred William Sadler, Brett Cullen and Norman Lloyd, but this story about a demon that jumps from body to body, unleashing a flesh-eating virus during a St. Patrick’s Day parade, never made it to series.


It wasn’t until 2016 that a full 10-episode TV series was commissioned. Damien works as a sequel to the 1976 original, ignoring the existing sequels. Here, Bradley James plays the adult Damien Thorn, now a 30-year-old war photographer who has all but forgotten his satanic past.
Barbara Hershey co-stars as his protector, who encourages him to embrace his dark side. Flashbacks to Damien’s childhood featured clips from the 1976 film, but it wasn’t enough to inspire a second series.
The prequel
Set in 1971, The First Omen predates the original by several years. Nell Tiger Free plays Margaret, a twenty-something novice who moves to Rome from America to take a job as a teacher at a convent school. Soon enough, she becomes entangled in a terrifying plot to bring about the Antichrist.


Directed and co-written by Arkasha Stevenson (who worked on the TV series Legion), the film features just as fine an array of acting talent as the first movie – including Bill Nighy and Charles Dance.
Intriguingly, the role played by Troughton in the 1976 original, that of the young Father Brennan – the cleric who is speared to death by a lightning rod – is played by Ralph Ineson.
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The Omen: as prequel The First Omen opens, how tale about the son of Satan spawned sequels, remake, TV series and books

Nell Tiger Free as Margaret in a still from The First Omen. Photo: 20th Century Studios

Horror classic The Omen, the story of the birth of the Antichrist, started a long-running franchise, including newly released prequel The First Omen, starring Nell Tiger Free (above), Bill Nighy and Charles Dance. Photo: 20th Century Studios

In a still from 1976 film The Omen, Gregory Peck (left) as Robert Thorn and David Warner as Jennings seek the remains of a child to offer on an altar to drive out Satan. Photo: 20th Century Fox/Getty Images

 Sam Neill (left) in a still from Omen III: The Final Conflict. Photo: 20th Century Fox.

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Jim Carrey (left) and Kate Winslet in a still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

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Jim Carrey as Joel in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

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Lifestyle

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Film & TV

The Omen, released in 1976 with a cast including Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Billie Whitelaw, won an Oscar and started a long-running franchise
The latest film about the Antichrist, The First Omen, is a prequel to the original movie, and stars Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy and Charles Dance


Horror classic The Omen, the story of the birth of the Antichrist, started a long-running franchise, including newly released prequel The First Omen, starring Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy and Charles Dance.


American cinema

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Explainer | The Omen: as prequel The First Omen opens, how tale about the son of Satan spawned sequels, remake, TV series and books

The Omen, released in 1976 with a cast including Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Billie Whitelaw, won an Oscar and started a long-running franchise The latest film about the Antichrist, The First Omen, is a prequel to the original movie, and stars Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy and Charles Dance

The original

The Omen, released in 1976 with a cast including Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Billie Whitelaw, won an Oscar and started a long-running franchise

The latest film about the Antichrist, The First Omen, is a prequel to the original movie, and stars Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy and Charles Dance