comment #1

Paul H. says ...

I recently read that they used the original script as source material...director John Moore called it "a piece of Shakespeare".

Yup.

comment #2

Mike Gebert says ...

I guess that makes Rosemary's Baby the Bible.

comment #3

Jeremy says ...

And The Exorcist is so The Koran.

On a writer's note: David Seltzer's script was re-written with NO CHANGES except the wall phones changed to cell phones and the tricycles changed to scooters. Therefore the original writer was kicked off the project and Seltzer's name was put back on.
Poor David. First "Revelations" and now this. AGAIN. Oy.

comment #4

Ross says ...

From the trailers, I got the feeling that they really hadn't changed anything... only that the performances had been downgraded and the time updated. I don't mind remakes that much, if they do their own thing with it. I had fun with the remakes of Texas Chainsaw, Hills Have Eyes and, this is blasphemy, but I prefered the updated Dawn of the Dead.

The new Omen looks absolutely wretched. Unless I hear otherwise, I probably won't bother to catch it, even on DVD, and I'm a total horror nut. I'll simply watch the original again, it's a good piece of 70's shlock.

comment #5

Andrew says ...

Working link for Paul Byrnes review:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/film-reviews/the-omen/2006/05/31/1148956410476.html

comment #6

Mike Gebert says ...

Let's be as done with The Omen '06 as we are with The Haunting '99. Unworthy of further comment.

comment #7

roxie says ...

I normally avoid big-screen remakes but I remember being spooked by this is a kid and was hooked by the new trailer, which recreates the mother's "hanging by her fingernails" scene shot for shot. This is perfect for today's teens and I'll probly see it, albeit as a matinee. Of course, now I can't wait for "Rosemary's Baby," starring Paris Hilton. (gag)

comment #8

randolyn says ...

"The whole point of a remake is to either improve upon a flawed film, or to bring a new and/or different perspective to a classic tale."

Ba-whaa?? I can't believe people let this ridiculous quote slide. The whole point of a remake is to squeeze blood from a stone, and try to add some zeros to the bank accounts of those who are too lazy or cowardly to come up with any original idea. You remake a film because you want to see if there is any water left in the well. No remake has ever been made for any high-minded notion to "improve" a film or bring a "different perspective". For that idea, I have to give a GOB-like "COME ON!"

comment #9

akabob says ...

Two remakes that improved or took a different perspective would be John Carpenter's "The Thing" and Philip Kaufman's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". That said, "The Omen" remake looks like an abysmal, pointless, note for note remake. I'll be staying far, far away.

comment #10

Anonymous says ...

I think the whole point of this re-make was that some suit noticed that 6-6-06 fell on a friday, and thought 'hmmmm, what cheap project could we get ready in time'

comment #11

david says ...

Have to agree with Randolyn here. Though I adore Carpenter's Thing, it must be said that those are the exceptions, not the rule. It seems like Van Sant's Psycho was the first of this generation's shot-for-shot tribute "remakes," no?

comment #12

Burbanked says ...

I was actually kind of interested in seeing this until noticing the moment in the trailer where Mrs. Thorne is falling backwards to the floor and I thought, "Gee. That looks kind of cool."

(pause)

"Oh yeah, it looks cool because that's EXACTLY the way it looked in the original."

I'm with you, akabob. THE THING is a classic remade into a new classic. This - and everything like it that Hollywood seems undeterred to crank out, despite all criticism and box office failure to the contrary - is not.

comment #13

Daniel Zelter says ...

david: " Though I adore Carpenter's Thing, it must be said that those are the exceptions, not the rule.."

What about Scarface, Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur, and the Ten Commandments? And I guess Lord of the Rings, too.

comment #14

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Was there really a need for this besides money?

comment #15

Dan Nordquist says ...

6/6/06 is actually Tuesday.

But I agree, let's stop talking about this.

comment #16

bachelorcool says ...

Do we have Gus Van Sant to thank for the current trend of identikit/remakes that add nothing of real note to what were (and still are) very fine originals?

comment #17

delbomber says ...

The 'Dawn of the Dead' remake rocked and was far superior to the relatively dull, moronic, pure cheddar original. Yes, yes, I know the social commentary and satirical consumer-culture sub-text was missing, but it's a friggin' horror movie, it doesn't have to be Jonathan Swift...'The Omen' remake, as so many have mentioned, is completely unnecessary.

comment #18

Steven R. SIlver says ...

The purpose of any major studio project is to make money, so I can't quarrel too much with the idea of a remake, per se. However, as with Poseidon, I question why anyone at the studio felt that a remake would do better business than any of the other twenty or so crappy horror movies that have come out this year alone.

The original Omen is not an unknown quantity. Everyone has seen it, bunches of times, on television or video, over the last thirty years. It does what it sets out to do about as well as possible. Unlike barebones projects like Dawn of the Dead or The Hills Have Eyes, it features 70's state-of-the-art production values. No one is clamoring for a new version of it, certainly not with Liev Schreiber (who, ironically, was much better cast in last year's Manchurian Candidate than here) and John Moore.

Remake something that people don't know by heart rather than something they do. For all Michael Caine's charm and for all the skill of a bunch of great stunt drivers, the original Italian Job was a trifle that was fairly obscure to all but the most ardent of film buffs. It was ripe for a state-of-the-art remake (even with Mark Wahlberg). The upcoming 3:10 to Yuma falls in the same category as a movie that is a good remake candidate.

90% of all big studio films out there are either remakes, sequels or ripoffs anyway. Flawed as it is, I have to give DaVinci Code credit for being something reasonably original out there.

comment #19

Rich says ...

Seeing has how the original Omen was kind of a knock-off of/attempt to capitalize on The Exorcist, that kind of makes a remake an even goofier idea. It's sort of like remaking Grizzly or Romancing the Stone or Battlestar Galactica (oops, wait a minute).