Vintage movie poster for 'The Omicron Variant' is fake

(Reuters) - A photoshopped poster advertising a non-existent film called ‘The Omicron Variant’ has duped some social media users into thinking the namesake coronavirus variant was planned.

The poster takes on a sci-fi and horror theme, with a picture of two people in the foreground staring into a starry sky, while an ant protruding from a bloodied hand sits at the back.

Above is the film’s tag line: “The Day The Earth Was Turned Into A Cemetery!” and its alleged name: “The Omicron Variant” (here).

In the comments beneath one post shared dozens of times, a Facebook user said: “This is so chilling and terrifying! Somehow it hit home at a different level” (here).

While there was a 1963 sci-fi movie called ‘Omicron’ (www.imdb.com/title/tt0191326/), there is not a film called ‘The Omicron Variant’ – and the poster shared on social media has been edited.

The original poster is for a 1974 film called Phase IV (www.imdb.com/title/tt0070531/). A version can be seen in Spanish here.

VERDICT

Altered. A poster for the 1974 film Phrase IV has been edited.