Nell Tiger Free will play the lead role in the forthcoming The Omen prequel. According to Deadline, Free has been cast in the lead role of 20th Century’s First Omen, the first theatrical entry in the long-running supernatural horror franchise in over fifteen years. Precise details about the film’s setting and the characters it will follow in the time leading up to the original are still being kept under wraps. Filmmaker Arkasha Stevenson will helm this for the first time. With her role as the evil nanny Leanne Grayson in Apple TV+’s Servant, Free is no stranger to the genres of supernatural horror or creepy children.
Free has also been in the British science fiction thriller Settlers and the Nicholas Winding Refn miniseries Too Old to Die Young in addition to her breakout role in the series, production for which has recently concluded. In 1976, The Omen, directed by Richard Donner, rode the success of other spooky and Satanic-themed films like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Amityville Horror to huge box office receipts. Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck), his wife Kathy (Lee Remick), and their son Damien (Jake T. Austin) were the main characters.
Robert thinks the child is the Antichrist because of the string of horrific deaths that appear to follow him and because of the birthmark on his forehead that looks like the number 666. Following Damien’s coming of age, the box receipts for two theatrical sequels, 1978’s Damien: Omen II and 1981’s Omen III: The Final Conflict, declined; a fourth sequel, 1991’s Omen IV: The Awakening, was created for television. After receiving mixed reviews for the original, a remake starring Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber was released in 2006 (on June 6, of course). It made over $120 million at the box office, but the franchise hasn’t returned to theatres since.
In 2016, A&E aired the first season of Damien, a TV show about an adult Damien Thorn learning about his history. Her previous directing credits include episodes of Channel Zero, Legion, and Brand New Cherry Flavor, but Debut Omen will be her first movie. Together with co-writer Tim Smith, she will pen the film’s screenplay. Phantom Four’s other future films include the David Bruckner-helmed Hellraiser revival and the second season of Apple’s Foundation series, both of which Smith will executive produce together with David S. Goyer and Keith Levine. The product label will have Gracie Whelan in charge. Neither a specific date nor a time frame for the release of First Omen has been announced as of yet.