June 6, AD 2011

Revisiting The Omen
Frank Allnutt

Thirty five years ago, on June 6, 1976, the movie The Omen premiered. It was the sixth day of the sixth month of a year ending with the number six—”666,” the number of the Antichrist.

The movie is old. My book about it is old. But Bible prophesies about the coming of the Antichrist, when considered in light of today’s world conditions, are even more pertinent now than ever before.

My wife and I attended the premiere of The Omen at the invitation of Robert L. Munger, the Hollywood press agent who originated the idea for the film.

Bob Munger and I had met a few months earlier. I had just taken a position with a Christian organization that provided administrative services to the ministry, Open Doors with Brother Andrew. My first major project was to oversee the production of a Brother Andrew TV special. Bob Munger was the producer.

Bob and I met over lunch to discuss the project, which I learned would be hosted by Dean Jones, an acquaintance from back in my days with Walt Disney (that’s an inspirational story for another time).

During that luncheon, our conversation drifted from the TV special to another common interest: Bible prophecy. Bob told me of his idea for The Omen and how it had blossomed into a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox that was in the final shooting stages. And I told him about my first book on prophecy (Kissinger: Man of Destiny?) that had just been published.

Later, when I attended the premiere of The Omen, I was aghast over the picture—by the horror it depicted, to be sure, but more so at the extent to which it deviated from Bible prophecy.

Bob wanted my feedback on the film, and I was only too obliging to give it. Bob agreed with me that his film strayed significantly from Bible prophecy, but rationalized that the story had to go the way it did in order to pass muster with the studio, distributors, and theaters.

The outcome was that I rushed writing my book After The Omen. Bob endorsed it and 20th Century Fox cooperated with me all the way. The book’s first edition (titled Antichrist After The Omen) was quickly published by Fleming H. Revel Company, and a second edition, with a new cover and a shortened title (After The Omen), was published by Bible Voice.

Bob wrote a blurb for the back cover in which he stated: “I knew we could only give a few clues [about the Antichrist] in the movie, yet here [in Frank’s book] are the complete answers. I wish everyone who sees The Omen could read Frank Allnutt’s incisive explanation.”

Well, many people did in fact read my book—so many that its title appeared on several best-seller lists. And over time The Omen and its sequels generated a cult following. To this day, films in the Omen series continue to be popular re-runs on cable TV.

I still have a limited number of the unsold books, and autographed copies can be ordered from this link: Buy Frank Allnutt’s After The Omen.

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©Copyright AD2011 Frank Allnutt. All rights reserved. Content herein may be quoted, subject to the "fair use" doctrine of U.S. Copyright Law.

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