Rosemary's Baby Prequel Apartment 7A Gets Official Rating

The prequel to the iconic story scores an R rating.

With the original Rosemary's Baby movie exploring a world of emotional manipulation, sexual assault, and Satan worship, it understandably scored an R rating, despite not being particularly violent or graphic. A prequel to that story, Apartment 7A, is set for release later this year and it is confirmed to also have an R rating, which it earned for "some violent content and drug use." With countless horror movies pushing the boundaries of good taste by delivering brutal violence on screen in creative ways, this rating will likely satisfy fans of the original story in that it seemingly won't hold back on the horror, but also won't pivot into an entirely different tone that would deliver buckets of blood. Apartment 7A is expected to hit Paramount+ this Halloween season.

The logline for Apartment 7A describes the movie, "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."

The movie stars Julia Garner (Ozark), Dianne Wiest (Mayor of Kingstown), Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe), Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean film series), 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 was directed by Natalie Erika James, who previously delivered audiences Relic.

The original Rosemary's Baby was based on the 1967 book of the same name from Ira Levin, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and scored Ruth Gordon an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. In 1974, Levin's sequel novel Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby was adapted into a TV movie, while 2014 saw Zoe Saldaña adapt the original novel into a two-part miniseries for NBC.

"Apartment 7A is the perfect way to kick off the Halloween season," Jeff Grossman, executive vice president of programming at Paramount+, previously shared in a statement about the upcoming prequel. "Director Natalie Erika James and the prodigious creative team have crafted a chilling and clever new entry into the genre."  

Stay tuned for updates on Apartment 7A.

Are you looking forward to the prequel? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror