Along with The Exorcist, The Omen was one of the biggest supernatural horror films of the 1970s, and much like The Exorcist, The Omen will also be receiving a belated prequel movie. Deadline has reported that 20th Century Studios is developing The First Omen, a prequel to the original 1976 movie directed by Richard Donner. Arkasha Stevenson will make her feature directorial debut on the project, and will also rewrite the script alongside Tim Smith.
Arkasha Stevenson is best known for directing episodes of Channel Zero, Legion, Briarpatch, and Brand New Cherry Flavor. The original Omen movie starred Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, an American diplomat who comes to believe that his child is prophesied Antichrist. After his biological child dies shortly after birth, Thorn is persuaded to replace him with a child whose mother has also died, all without telling his wife. As young Damien grows, a series of mysterious events and violent deaths occur around the family. There’s been talk of an Omen prequel for a number of years, with Antonio Campos once slated to direct from a script by Ben Jacoby. The Conjuring screenwriters Chad and Carey W. Hayes revealed back in 2020 that they had written a prequel to The Omen that had gotten shuffled away when 20th Century Fox merged with Disney. It could be that script that Arkasha Stevenson and Tim Smith will be rewriting.
While The Omen wasn’t nearly as successful as The Exorcist was, it did spawn several sequels, including Damien: Omen II, Omen III: The Final Conflict, and Omen IV: The Awakening. It also received a reboot in 2006 starring Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles. While I doubt that The Omen really needs a prequel, I’m enough of a fan of the franchise that I’d be willing to give it a shot.
