“Rosemary’s Baby” prequel “Apartment 7A,” starring Julia Garner and directed by Natalie Erika James, will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ ahead of the Halloween season.

Roman Polanski’s 1968 horror classic was produced by Paramount, starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as a young couple who are trying to start a family but find themselves tormented by strange neighbors.

According to an official logline, “Apartment 7A” is “Set in 1965 New York City, and tells the story prior to the legendary horror classic ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, exploring what happened in the apartment before Rosemary moved in. When a struggling, young dancer suffers a devastating injury, she finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected, older couple promises her a shot at fame.”

Commissioned for Paramount+, the film also stars Dianne Wiest (“Mayor of Kingstown”), Jim Sturgess (“Across the Universe”) and Kevin McNally (the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film series). Supporting cast members include Marli Siu (“Everything I Know About Love”), Andrew Buchan (“All the Money in the World”), Rosy McEwen (“Blue Jean”) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (“Wonka”).

“’Apartment 7A’ is the perfect way to kick off the Halloween season,” said Jeff Grossman, executive vice president of programming at Paramount+ in a statement announcing the streaming release. “Director Natalie Erika James and the prodigious creative team have crafted a chilling and clever new entry into the genre.”

“Apartment 7A” is a Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night production from producers John Krasinski, Allyson Seeger, Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. James co-wrote the script with Christian White and Skylar James, and executive producers include Vicki Dee Rock and Alexa Ginsburg. [Source]

Back in January, it was announced that Inventing Anna lead Julia Garner had signed on to star in Paramount Players’ Apartment 7A. Little was known about the project other than the fact that it had been described as a “psychological thriller.” Yet interest in the film still felt high, primarily because of who was involved with it. In addition to starring a two-time Emmy winner in Garner, Apartment 7A also had the buzzy Natalie Erika James attached to direct. Riding high off the critical acclaim of her feature debut Relic, James seemed like the perfect match for Garner.

It’s been six months since then, however, and aside from a casting announcement that put two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest in a still-undisclosed role, there’s been very little word about what viewers could expect from this dynamic duo. But with production recently wrapping on the film, details may be starting to trickle out. (Watch out, Barbie. There’s another film to obsess over.) According to horror entertainment site Bloody Disgusting, who were speaking “on good authority,” the upcoming Apartment 7A just might be a “top-secret Rosemary’s Baby prequel that’s about the woman who dies outside the apartment when Rosemary moved in.”

According to their reports, it all makes a lot of sense. Most obviously, Paramount Pictures owns the rights to Rosemary’s Baby. But after further sleuthing, Bloody Disgusting also discovered several more details that seemed to align, if not exactly confirm the rumor. First was the fact that John Krasinski was a producer on the film; according to BD, the A Quiet Place star and director was attached to direct a remake of the film a decade-and-a-half ago. Then, there’s the fact that actress Amy Leeson’s IMDb page listed her role in the project as “Rosemary Woodhouse.”
Continue reading  »