The Omen is returning as 20th Century attempts to reboot its dormant franchise with an upcoming prequel called The First Omen. The film dropped its first trailer today, which hints at a twist that turns the good guys bad.
The film takes place in Rome, where a young American, played by Nell Tiger Free, is sent to become a nun for the rest of her life. What she finds, however, is that the church isn’t entirely doing things that are all that great. In fact, they seem to be attempting to bring about the birth of the son of Satan (presumably Damien from the original film) so that they can have a big evil that will cause people to return to the church for protection. It’s not the best plan, and as the four films in the franchise already show, it doesn’t work out all that well.
The Omen is one of psychological horror’s greatest classics, not to mention one of the better faith-based horror films made. Its sequels were a practice in diminishing returns, though the initial trilogy (released between 1978 and 1981) is good on the whole. A fourth film was made in 1991, and a remake landed in 2006, but the franchise has sat dormant since despite the style of horror it helped create having a resurgence. It probably also helps that horror franchise reboots have been doing gangbusters recently, with the likes of Halloween showing that classic slashers can have new life.
The First Omen will be directed by Arkasha Stevenson and also stars Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Northman), and Bill Nighy (Living). Stevenson cut her teeth on trippy shows like Legion and the Netflix horror series Brand New Cherry Flavor, but this will be a whole new level as she attempts to usher in a classic horror series to the modern world.
The First Omen will release on April 5th.
