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The Omen
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 The Omen Production NotesThe prophecy is clear, the signs unmistakable: Armageddon is upon us. On 6 / 6 / 06, the omen is revealed...and our darkest fears are realized. THE OMEN, a contemporary thriller based on the 1976 classic film, centers around a young boy named Damien, the son of an American diplomat and his wife. Damien’s family is unaware he is destined to become the Anti-Christ – until shattering events reveal the terrifying truth.
Fear the date – 6/6/06 – when "The Omen 666 opens in theaters nationwide. A remake of the 1976 horror classic, the new film takes the tale of the coming of the antichrist – personified as a young boy named Damien – to an even more thrilling and visceral level.
"...From the Eternal Sea he rises
Creating armies on either side
Turning man against his brother
`Til man exists no more"
Many believe the prophecy from the Book of Revelation provides a map to a terrifying future...or it presents fragments of history that have come to life in our time. The signs, they claim, are all around us: terrorist attacks, extreme weather... the list goes on.
The passage specifically points to the arrival of the Anti-Christ, who is branded with the numerical sequence "666": the mark of the Beast. The Anti-Christ will receive his power directly from Satan to establish a counterfeit kingdom on earth, signaling the beginning of Armageddon...
Robert Thorn is unaware of such dark prophecies. Thorn, a senior American diplomat, has other things on his mind. His wife, Katherine, has endured a difficult delivery and she's as yet unaware their newborn child has died. Devastated by the loss, Thorn's concern turns to Katherine, who had suffered two previous miscarriages. The news will surely devastate her.
The hospital priest, Father Spiletto, presents Thorn with another child born that night, whose mother died in childbirth. The priest compels Thorn to take the infant boy as his own; Katherine will never know the truth, and their son, which they name Damien, will be raised as their flesh and blood. Katherine embraces the child as her own, blossoming in motherhood; Thorn, it would seem, has made the right choice.
Thorn's career ascends -- he becomes the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain -- and the family settles into an estate outside London. But certain events, all seeming to revolve around the now five-year-old Damien, are deeply disturbing: Damien's nanny hangs herself at the youngster's birthday party; a strange priest brings dire warnings to Thorn; a children's trip to the zoo results in a panicked frenzy; Damien becomes hysterical during a drive to church; and blurred movements in a series of photographs portend shocking deaths.
The troubling incidents multiply, pointing to something wrong -- terribly wrong -- with Damien. Enter Mrs. Baylock, Damien's new nanny, who seems to have a preordained devotion to the child. Then tragedy strikes closer to home. But only later does Thorn comprehend the truth: Damien is no ordinary child; he is the long-prophesized Anti-Christ. Now, Thorn must make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the unspeakable terror that awaits the world.
The prophecy is clear, the signs unmistakable: Armageddon is upon us. On 6 / 6 / 06, the omen is revealed...and our darkest fears are realized.
THE OMEN is a contemporary thriller based on the 1976 classic film released by Twentieth Century Fox, starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, and directed by Richard Donner. The film, like "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby" before it, galvanized audiences not only through its shocks and scares, but through the filmmakers' storytelling gifts and its top-flight cast. "The Omen" became one of the biggest hits of the year.
Director John Moore counts himself as one of the film's many admirers. He also had come to realize that "The Omen's" exploration of evil is now more relevant than ever, and he was eager to take the reins of a new version of the story.
"There has never been a more salient time to remind people that evil is neither a concept nor a theory," Moore says. "It has a human face and it empowers itself through human actions. The true nature of evil has never been more apparent.
"In just the past four years alone," Moore continues, "the world has been hit with devastating events -- political, natural and man-made. One can't help but notice a certain momentum."
THE OMEN retains much of the structure and themes of David Seltzer's 1976 screenplay, but there are several important changes to update the story and characters. "The original film had a strong foundation," Moore states. "But there were several opportunities to give the characters a more contemporary feel."
In the 1976 "The Omen," Robert and Katherine Thorn are a comfortable middle-aged couple, with Robert having had a long and distinguished career in government service. In the new film, they're significantly younger. Producer Glenn Williamson notes: "We felt that by making Robert and Katherine younger, they'd project the image of a couple on the ascendancy of their lives, both personally and professionally. While they're educated and successful, they're also young and working hard to make their career and marriage work. It adds to their confusion and shock when they begin to suspect, and then discover the truth about Damien."
"These are complex people, real people," adds John Moore. "By making the characters more accessible, the audience must consider, `If a man this strong and relatable can fall, then it could happen to anyone.'"
Early in the story, Robert makes a decision, purely out of love for his wife, which proves to be ruinous. John Moore says: "The film asks the questions: What would you do if you truly loved somebody? What would you do to make them happy? And what Thorn does -- protect his wife from the devastation of a child lost at birth -- is seemingly benign. People adopt children; it happens all the time. But from this `innocent' lie and his attempts to do some good, that evil is able to come into his life and into the world. "It's a tragedy on an intimate scale, in how it affects his family," Moore continues. "On a global level, Robert has opened a doorway to evil because he has, without realizing it, shaken hands with the devil."
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Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Damien Thorn in The Omen.
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