Comic Con Panel Photos and Teasers Here
Source: THR
Where did the idea to revisit The Omen come from?
Ross Fineman, an executive producer on the show, originally had the idea to base the series on The Omen. Fox Television Studios approached me — and I have a deal with them— and they wanted me to supervise. I'm a huge horror fan and love The Omen, and thought this sounded like fun and decided to write it. I ended up falling in love with the project and stayed on as showrunner. We've been very fortunate because we originally picked up straight-to-series for six episodes and A&E was so excited about the material they extended the orderto 10.
The film pushed the boundaries of violence when it was originally released. How will Damien compare?
I think Damien is cutting-edge material. It's trying to push the boundaries as far as violence and horror go. There's a lot of really great drama on TV and that was not the case in 1976 when the film came out. So the bar is set so high given other great horror shows that are on TV. We have our work cut out for us; everybody is really interested in pushing the boundaries. I think we've got a few episodes that people are going to be talking about.
How does the series work in terms of filling in the gap between a 5-year-old Damien in The Omen and the 30-year-old we meet here?
We see the series as a sequel to that original movie. We're not using the second and third movies as part of our bible. Fans of that first movie will also be interested in finding out where Damien's been for those missing 25 years since the last time we saw him when he was a boy and meeting him now. We'll definitely give fans information on where he's been.
What will surprise us about that gap?
It will make sense with everything that comes in the first movie. There are little nods to the second and third movies, but we're not following the events of the second and third movies. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that our characters and the horror felt like they were coming from that world. This has always been an issue that I've dealt with as a writer: How do you keep something grounded and yet keep the horror, especially something that has a supernatural element. How do you keep that surprising every week without it eventually becoming unbelievable or over the top? That's something that the original film did really well. It felt like it took place in our world. To do that on a weekly basis with our show has been a challenge but it's coming together nicely.
Ross Fineman, an executive producer on the show, originally had the idea to base the series on The Omen. Fox Television Studios approached me — and I have a deal with them— and they wanted me to supervise. I'm a huge horror fan and love The Omen, and thought this sounded like fun and decided to write it. I ended up falling in love with the project and stayed on as showrunner. We've been very fortunate because we originally picked up straight-to-series for six episodes and A&E was so excited about the material they extended the orderto 10.
The film pushed the boundaries of violence when it was originally released. How will Damien compare?
I think Damien is cutting-edge material. It's trying to push the boundaries as far as violence and horror go. There's a lot of really great drama on TV and that was not the case in 1976 when the film came out. So the bar is set so high given other great horror shows that are on TV. We have our work cut out for us; everybody is really interested in pushing the boundaries. I think we've got a few episodes that people are going to be talking about.
How does the series work in terms of filling in the gap between a 5-year-old Damien in The Omen and the 30-year-old we meet here?
We see the series as a sequel to that original movie. We're not using the second and third movies as part of our bible. Fans of that first movie will also be interested in finding out where Damien's been for those missing 25 years since the last time we saw him when he was a boy and meeting him now. We'll definitely give fans information on where he's been.
What will surprise us about that gap?
It will make sense with everything that comes in the first movie. There are little nods to the second and third movies, but we're not following the events of the second and third movies. We spent a lot of time trying to make sure that our characters and the horror felt like they were coming from that world. This has always been an issue that I've dealt with as a writer: How do you keep something grounded and yet keep the horror, especially something that has a supernatural element. How do you keep that surprising every week without it eventually becoming unbelievable or over the top? That's something that the original film did really well. It felt like it took place in our world. To do that on a weekly basis with our show has been a challenge but it's coming together nicely.
Source: