Lifetime gives a six-episode order for Damien, an Omen TV show from the executive producer of The Walking Dead.
Undoubtedly, the moment that the Lifetime network announced they were ordering a TV series adaptation of the 1976 horror classic The Omen, somewhere a nanny shouted, “Damien, it’s all for you.”
Aptly titled Damien, the TV series seeks to turn the childhood of the Anti-Christ into a weekly adventure on the Lifetime network. The first season will (for now) be comprised of six episodes with the intent of airing sometime in early 2015.
The series is being created by showrunner Glenn Mazzara, who genre TV fans should remember as the former showrunner and executive producer of AMC’s zombie megahit The Walking Dead. Being produced under the Fox Television Studios Banner, Damien is also set to be executive produced by Russ Fineman and Pancho Mansfield.
The Omen was the devilishly popular horror thriller that came in on the tail end of the demonic mania craze that swept pop culture beginning with 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby and culminating in still arguably the scariest movie ever made, The Exorcist (1973).
Directed by Richard Donner, The Omen chronicled an American diplomat (Gregory Peck) who comes to the terrifying realization that his son, who he secretly adopted after his actual son died after childbirth, is the Anti-Christ. The film also starred Lee Remnick, David Warner, and Harvey Spencer Stephens as the little devil, Damien.
However, the Lifetime series may be reimagining Damien’s monstrous qualities as well as his age. As Lifetime Executive Vice President Rob Sharenow said in a statement, “Glenn Mazzara has reimagined him as a dark, romantic, anti-hero, and this fresh take blends complex characters with premium storytelling to make something truly original.”
Let’s just hope this ode to Damien Thorn goes better for Lifetime than it did for that nanny.
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