{"id":18702,"date":"2014-05-21T06:08:58","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T13:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=18702"},"modified":"2014-05-21T06:08:58","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T13:08:58","slug":"damien-is-all-grown-up-in-tv-follow-up-to-the-omen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2014\/05\/damien-is-all-grown-up-in-tv-follow-up-to-the-omen.html","title":{"rendered":"Damien is all grown up in TV follow-up to The Omen<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>The Exorcist<\/a><\/i> spawned a series of sequels and prequels<\/a> that couldn\u2019t agree on where its characters had come from or where they were going. Now it seems the same fate has befallen The Omen<\/a><\/i>, which was one of the other<\/i> big supernatural horror movies from the 1970s.<\/p>\n

The original film spawned two big-screen sequels that saw Damien Thorn, the boy destined to become the Antichrist, grow to adulthood. The third film ended with the Second Coming of Christ and the death of the Antichrist at the hands of his lover, but it was followed ten years later by a TV-movie in which we learned that Damien had sired a daughter in whom his creepiness lived on. (Meanwhile, the TV-movie also revealed, no doubt unintentionally, that the Second Coming had had absolutely zero effect on the world, and that things were still ticking along as though nothing had happened<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The original film has since been remade, rebooted and reworked a few times. There was a TV pilot for a series that never happened called The Omen<\/i> in 1995, plus a miniseries called Revelations<\/i> in 2005, and there was a big-screen remake<\/a> in 2006; you can read my interview with the director of that film here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, instead of starting from scratch again, it looks like the powers that be are going to make a new sequel of sorts to the original movie. The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/i> says the Lifetime network has struck a deal with Glen Mazzara (The Shield<\/i>, The Walking Dead<\/i>) to create a follow-up to the original film called Damien<\/i> that will focus on the title character when he is an adult, \u201chaunted by his past\u201d and \u201cfaced with a series of macabre events\u201d until he \u201cmust finally face his true destiny: he is the Antichrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

This semi-reboot could actually resolve one of the issues I have always had with the original trilogy. Specifically: the first three films came out over a five-year span, between 1976 and 1981, and they all seemed to take place more or less around the time when they were made, but Damien himself aged a few decades over the course of the trilogy. If the new show ignores the existing sequels and presents itself as a direct sequel to the original 1976 film, then Damien would be in his 40s by now.<\/p>\n

Then again, that might be a little old for an Antichrist, especially one who has not fully accepted his destiny yet. (On the other hand, Michael York was in his late 50s when he starred as an Antichrist discovering his destiny in The Omega Code<\/a><\/i>.) Maybe they\u2019ll pretend the original film took place in the 1980s or even more recently than that. Just so long as they don\u2019t pretend that Damien<\/i> is a follow-up to the 2006 remake.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Didn’t like the original sequels to the 1976 film? Looks like a new Lifetime drama will offer an alternate storyline for its Satanic protagonist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2256,372,295,2257,2259,282,293,2258],"class_list":["post-18702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-damien","tag-end-times","tag-final-conflict","tag-glen-mazzara","tag-michael-york","tag-omega-code","tag-omen-1976","tag-omen-iv-the-awakening"],"yoast_head":"\nDamien is all grown up in TV follow-up to The Omen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Didn't like the original sequels to the 1976 film? 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