A 1963 Science Fiction Movie Did Not Predict The Omicron Variant
The Claim
An Omicron Variant movie poster from 1963 predicted the latest COVID-19 variant.
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Emerging story
Social media users are sharing an image of a poster for "The Omicron Variant," a science fiction film released in 1963. According to users, the film predicted the occurrence of the most recent COVID-19 variant known as Omicron.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar discovered the movie poster circulating morphed. A relevant keyword search revealed that there is, in fact, a movie called "Omicron" that was released in 1963. The movie is not related to COVID-19. The original film, Omicron, is an Italian science fiction about an alien who takes over the body of a deceased factory worker in order to learn about humans and take over the planet. There were two posters created for this film, both of which can be seen in the gallery below.
According to its Greek alphabetical definition, Omicron means fifteenth letter. As a result, it's not unusual for a film to be named after one of the Greek letters. Further investigation revealed that the movie poster in the claim is falsely edited to spread misinformation. The original poster is from a 1974 science fiction film called Phase IV, which can be viewed below.
An identical tagline, "The day Earth was turned into a cemetery," can be found on both posters. In spite of Omicron's rapid spread and milder symptoms, misinformation and fear-mongering abound about this new COVID-19 variant, which is spreading quickly.
The Omicron Variant was not predicted in 1963, nor was there a movie called “The Omicron Variant”.
