The Omen (2006)

An American official realizes that his young son may literally be the Devil incarnate.

Director:

John Moore

Writer:

David Seltzer

Stars:

Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Predrag Bjelac	...	Vatican Observatory Priest (as Pedja Bjelac)
Carlo Sabatini	...	Cardinal Fabretti
Bohumil Svarc	...	Pope
Liev Schreiber	...	Robert Thorn
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Father Spiletto
Baby Zikova	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Morvas	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Muller	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Litera	...	Damien - Newborn
Julia Stiles	...	Katherine Thorn
Tomas Wooler	...	Damien - 2 Years Old (as Tomas Wooller)
Rafael Sallas	...	Rome Embassy Marine
Marshall Cupp	...	Ambassador Steven Haines
Martin Hindy	...	Haines' Limo Driver (as Martin 'Mako' Hindy)
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick	...	Damien

Storyline

When the Vatican observatory Priest sees the appearance of a comet, the Church is sure that it confirms the eve of the Armageddon. Meanwhile, the U.S. President's godson Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) is informed in the maternity ward in Rome by Father Spiletto (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) that his wife Katherine (Julia Stiles) has just lost her baby and she had troubles with her uterus and would not have another pregnancy. Spiletto suggests to Robert that another just-born child that lost his mother could be the substituted for his son, and Robert accepts the child and gives him the name of "Damien". Robert is promoted to ambassador in London after a tragic accident. When Damien's nanny (Amy Huck) commits suicide during his birthday party, a substitute, Mrs. Baylock (Mia Farrow), comes to work and live with the family. Through the years, Katherine realizes that Damien is evil, while Robert is contacted by Father Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite), who tells him that Damien is the son of devil...

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Plot Keywords:

antichrist | evil | boy | child murderer | woman murders a woman | 

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Taglines:

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666."- The book of revelations 13:18

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The studio originally wanted this movie to receive a PG-13 rating, but producer and director John Moore insisted on an R-rating, suggesting people would "smell a cop-out" if a remake of The Omen (1976) was to receive a family-friendly certificate.

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Goofs

The opening shot of the telescope shows several white lamps around the eyepiece end of the telescope. This is exactly what you do not want when making visual observations at night.

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Quotes

Nanny: [right before she commits suicide] This is for you, Damien! All of this is for you!

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Crazy Credits

Names of crew in main title are animated, so some of their letters become crosses or "6".

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Connections

Referenced in CollegeHumor Originals: Horror Movie Daycare (2012)

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Soundtracks

Old Comrades
Written by Andrew C. Pilmer (as Andrew Pilmer)
Original melody by Carl Teike (uncredited)
Courtesy of Associated Production Music, LLC.

User Reviews

Just made me love the original more

"The Omen" is one of those movies that still hold up so well, there's really no need to remake them. The date of June 6th 2006 was probably the most tempting thing for producers to release a new version of this film now.

Well, you can't say they did a bad job. This year's "The Omen" is solid as a rock and very faithful to the original. So faithful in fact, that one has to wonder what the whole point of it is.

Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles are an odd choice for the leading couple but they're both okay in their respective roles. The direction is just okay, too, but you gotta be thankful that no cheap scares (or not too many of them) were thrown in to keep viewers interested. On the other hand, it must be said that the movie is a bit slow at the beginning, especially if you already know the plot. Opinions will differ on how well recent events such as 9/11, the tsunami in Sri Lanka or the death of Pope John Paul II. were integrated into the story, but that's not really a major issue. The few changes John Moore made involve a different way of dying for one character and two or three rather effective dream sequences (the last one sticks out - it's a sequence of really creepy images without any sound effects at all, probably my favorite moment of the whole movie). Also watch out for a nice reference to "Don't Look Now".

The most interesting thing, however, is the complete absence of the infamous choral score that made the original so scary. God knows why it's not here, it sure wouldn't have seem dated.

If I realized anything watching this movie it's how amazing the script was in the first place. It builds up perfectly, it's thrilling as hell (excuse the pun) and there are no plot holes to be found. This is why "The Omen" still works greatly and will hopefully be enjoyed by a lot of young people who haven't seen the original. For everyone else there's no reason to spend money on a movie we have already seen in a superior version.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

6 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Omen 666

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,026,496, 11 June 2006

Gross USA:

$54,607,383

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$119,974,972

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, 11:11 Mediaworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 105 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1