On April 5th, 20th Century Studios will be giving a theatrical release to The First Omen, which serves as a prequel to the 1976 horror classic The Omen (watch it HERE) – but some reviewers, including JoBlo’s own JimmyO, have already had the chance to see the movie, and their largely positive reactions started hitting social media last night. We have assembled some of them below (including, yes, JimmyO’s), and some of the descriptions used in these reactions include disturbing, chilling, stunning, fascinating, and unrepentantly ghoulish.
The film stars Nell Tiger Free of the Apple TV+ series Servant, and will be hitting the big screen with an R rating for violent content, grisly/disturbing images, and brief graphic nudity… although it nearly got an NC-17.
The First Omen was directed by Arkasha Stevenson, based on characters created by David Seltzer. Here’s the synopsis: When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.
Free is joined in the cast by Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Northman), and Bill Nighy (Living).
The film was produced by David S. Goyer and Keith Levine, with Tim Smith serving as executive producer with Whitney Brown and Gracie Wheelan. We first heard that a prequel to The Omen was in development way back in 2016. At that time, Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time) was in talks to direct First Omen from a script by Ben Jacoby (Bleed). Later The Conjuring writers Chad and Carey Hayes came on board to work on the script, and they were followed by author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl). The film ended up in the hands of Arkasha Stevenson – who has previously directed episodes of the genre shows Channel Zero, Legion, and Brand New Cherry Flavor. Stevenson rewrote the script with her writing partner Tim Smith, then Firestarter‘s Keith Thomas worked on it as well.
The Omen (1976) was followed by Damien: Omen II in 1978, Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981, Omen IV: The Awakening in 1991, and a 2006 remake. So this is the sixth entry in the film franchise.
Are you looking forward to The First Omen? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these reactions:
The First Omen
was amazing! @20thcentury @20thHorror https://t.co/44sOYuLJ3N
— VAMP
(@Vamp) March 27, 2024
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