FAQ

American diplomat Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber), whose wife Katherine (Julia Stiles) has just given birth in an Italian hospital to a stillborn child, agrees to substitute, without telling Katherine, a healthy newborn boy whose mother has just died in childbirth. As the years go by and the Thorns and their son Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) return to London, strange events begin to happen. On his fifth birthday, Damien's nanny hangs herself and is replaced by the mysteriously sinister nanny Mrs Baylock (Mia Farrow). Animals at the zoo seem to be scared and angered by Damien's presence. Father Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite), who claims to have been present at Damien's birth, is speared to death in a freak accident. Katherine suffers a miscarriage and is killed falling over a banister. Robert begins to believe Father Brennan's warning that little Damien is the Antichrist.

The Omen is a remake of The Omen (1976), which was based on a screenplay by American screenwriter David Seltzer, who is also credited with writing this remake. However, the actual writer for the remake is screenwriter Dan McDermott. Due to McDermott's screenplay too closely resembling the one Seltzer had written for the original movie, the WGA refused to grant McDermott the writing credit. Seltzer also novelized the original movie in a book that was released in 1976, just weeks before the movie was released.

This is never explained, but the most commonly held idea is that either Damien or the black dog made her do it using some unseen force/power that they have at their disposal. The main thought as to why they would do this is because they needed to get her out of the way so she can be replaced by his new nanny, a woman clearly depicted throughout the movie as being a disciple/helper of the Devil and, as such, a protector of Damien.

He may be either the Devil himself, who is known to assume other forms, or simply one of his disciples/helpers. This, as well as the idea that he is the reason for the nanny's death, is strongly evidenced by the fact that when she saw him, she very clearly took a good long look and had an unquestionable expression on her face that she was hearing or speaking with it. (While Damien saw the dog as well, he only waved at it no differently than any little kid might upon seeing a nice doggie nearby. As such, he may or may not have been aware of the Devil's plan/need to get the nanny out of the way.)

Out of fear. Damien is, after all, the son of the Devil. Presumably, the sight of God's house angers and scares him.

Robert is the U.S. ambassador for Great Britain. Most likely, the plane is a private or hired jet of some kind. Many politicians in high places are afforded this exemption from normal flight regulations.

Father Brennan had helped deliver Damien and also had a 666 birth mark. Now that he was dying of cancer, he wished to atone for his sins before death. He thought he could do this by providing Thorn with the facts concerning his son's origin and how Damien might be stopped.

Damien was literally born of a jackal, a canine closely related to dogs and wolves.

The prophecy suggested that the son of the devil would rise from the "eternal sea," which translates into English as the world of politics. This element was made up by the filmmakers and is not biblical fact.

Bugenhagen (Michael Gambon) and Damien are the only ones who are still alive at the end of the film.

Police will normally be stationed at the Thorn house as Robert Thorn is the U.S. ambassador for Great Britain, a politician of great importance. Given the recent occurrences, such as Kate's "accident" and Robert's absence, added police would probably have been present.

It is explained earlier in the film that the President at this time was also Robert's godfather. Damien must have been left to him after the deaths of Robert and Kate.

The film shares many shots with the original, but it has a very different blend of visuals and maintains a different beginning. The film was highly criticized for this aspect much like Psycho (1998), the remake of the original Psycho (1960). People were reported calling the picture "pointless" and "bland" because it carried so many similarities.

The remake is seen largely as a result of two things. Fox wanted to bring a remake of the film to the Japanese market as "creepy kids" seem to be big box-office there, but when John Moore came on board he suggested redoing the story for the world and not just the Asian market. Also, the fact that the date June 6, 2006 was approaching surely must have sparked some interest in doing a remake.

Director John Moore uses it to update the story by including disasters like 9/11 to indicate the spawn of Satan's coming and how prophecies concerning his rising have been fulfilled.

Yes, the movie was called "The Omen 666" during the filming and post production. As the release date grew closer, however, the creative team decided to drop the "666" and just stick with the original title. In replacement of the "666" subtitle, the release date 06/06/06 was on every piece of promo work in large font.

Director John Moore has said the color red is used in the film to show when something important is about to happen or possibly when a death is impending. It is also thought it may have been used to give the film a different visual style than the original

Most of the film was shot in Prague with added locations in Dublin, Ireland and in Rome, Italy. The film was initially meant to shoot for a while in Croatia but was chased out of the country by the Catholic Church.

One scene was part of Katherine Thorn's first dream sequence. John Moore cut it for pacing reasons. The other scene that seems to appear in some sort of bedroom does not appear in the movie nor as a deleted scene on the DVD. Its status is unknown.

The film was shot and made in Prague, so some small details will have been left in the film that could not be erased, such as the signposts and the fact that Thorn is driving on the wrong side of the road in the film's final moments.

No, the deaths in the photograph plot point is derived directly from the 1976 original version of The Omen, 30 years before Final Destination 3 (2006) was released. If anything, Final Destination 3 is cribbing from the original The Omen (1976), not vice versa.

Yes, Harvey Stephens is the blond tabloid reporter in the scene where Robert and the Saudi ambassador arrive at the embassy directly after the Nanny's death.

Marco Beltrami has composed a totally fresh and original score for this movie, bar the final track which plays over part of the credits. This track is a reworking of the famous "Ave Satani" that Jerry Goldsmith did for the 1976 version.

The curse of The Omen sprang up when several people died and a few horrific accidents took place on the set of the original film. A few minor things have also happened on the remake. A stunt dog reportedly attacked Liev Schreiber, who plays Damien's father. Also, after shooting the scene where Mrs. Baylock attacks Robert, it is said that all the film was destroyed. John Moore says at one point on the DVD that he genuinely believes external forces were at work and that the whole franchise is cursed.

The release date references "666", the number of the beast or devil in the Bible. The number "666" features strongly in The Omen's plot. The day of release was a Tuesday, and The Omen held the record for the highest Tuesday gross for over a year, until 3 July 2007 when Transformers (2007) claimed the record.

The grim, downbeat, core message is that good does not always win over the forces of evil, as demonstrated by the fact the only main character left at the end is Damien.

Not as yet. The film made a decent profit at the Box-Office though likely not quite enough to convince the studio that remakes of the lesser sequels would be good ideas. Also, with no other gimmicks to use (e.g 06/06/06), it is unlikely the studio will bother any time in the near future. However a TV origin story examining Damian has been greenlit at Lifetime.

It was nominated for two teen choice awards and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick picked up a Fuse Fangoria chainsaw award for "scariest child". David Thewlis was nominated for a razzie as worst supporting actor for both this and for Basic Instinct 2 (2006).

On the Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs the following are present.

• The feature film

• 45-minute making of documentary titled "Omenisims"

• Extended death sequences and (marginally) alternate ending

• Commentary from director, producer and editor.

• A short look at the music for the feature titled "Abbey Road Sessions"

• A TV special on the origins of 666 titled "Revelations 666"

• 2 Theatrical trailers for the film along with trailers for other features that where "coming soon" at the time

• Links to Fox website

The original 1976 film grossed $60 million in North America, where as this one only grossed $55 million. Worldwide figures for the original film are not available so a comparison cannot be made.

Yes, the teaser in which Seamus is seen slowly rocking on the swing dressed in red was indeed the little actor's screen test for the role.

The Omen received generally mixed reviews but overall was more applauded by critics than most horror remakes. Financially, The Omen is one of the highest worldwide grossing horror remakes of all time, and, as of February 2015, it's the 13th highest grossing domestic horror remake of all time.

The Omen made just over $119 million worldwide on a smallish budget of $25 million. This makes the film obviously a modest and fairly profitable success though a figure of under $120 million could never really be seen as a "blockbusting" total. In the domestic box office, it made roughly $55 million and opened to a $14 million haul on Tuesday the 06/06/06. As of February 2015, it is the 13th highest grossing horror remake.

The film currently has a score of 43 on Metacritic stating that it has overall garnered mixed or average reviews. Some have praised the film for it's strong performances and creepy style whilst others have slated it for being dull and too faithful to the original movie. The film probably got more negative than positive reviews as is to be expected with most horror remakes. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a 27% approval rate and the general critical consensus on the site suggests, whilst admirably stylish, the movie is to much a void replicant of the original.

Some quotes from critics:

"done with mood and style by director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines), who knows that the story itself is engrossing enough that we don't need 'X-Men' stuff in the visuals" –Roger Ebert, 2006

"On every level, The Omen isn't just bad filmmaking, it's bad storytelling. " –James Berardinelli, 2006

"John Moore's remake - while arguably better than its source - can't help but feel a bit stale." –BBCi film reviews, 2006

"We're Doomed If History Continues To Repeat Itself...Frame-By-Frame" –Erik Childress, 2006

"The Omen works surprisingly well" –Doug Bentin, 2006

"A near shot-for-shot remake, with added jolts and jumps, but seriously diminished returns. Please, God, dont let them at the sequels... " –Total Film magazine, 2006

"The Omen primarily comes off as a slow-paced, surprisingly tedious update " –Reel film Reviews, 2006

"in the hands of director John Moore its a slick, briskly paced, and at times exciting effort" –The Video Graveyard, 2006

"This film is for people who've never seen the original, and who are easily scared by mediocre horror films" –Eric. D. Snider, 2006

"John Moore, another director that is over-criticized for reasons I don't understand, crafts a remake that I actually liked better than the original." –Terrorhook.com, 2006