Apartment 7A: Rosemary’s Baby prequel gets an R rating

Two years have gone by since a psychological thriller called Apartment 7A – which Relic (watch it HERE) director Natalie Erika James helmed for Paramount Players and A Quiet Place collaborators Platinum Dunes and John Krasinski – wrapped filming. Soon after filming came to an end, rumors began to circulate that Apartment 7A was secretly a prequel to the 1968 classic Rosemary’s Baby… and sure enough, that’s exactly what the movie is. It’s set to receive a Paramount+ release in the U.S. and in select international markets sometime at the start of the Halloween season, and while we wait to find out the exact release date and look forward to seeing the marketing, the Motion Picture Association ratings board has revealed that they have given the movie an R rating. The reason for this R: some violent content and drug use.

That’s similar to the rating M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Trap was just given, but that one has been rated PG-13 for some violent content and brief strong language. So both films have “some violent content,” but Apartment 7A‘s drug use puts it into R territory while Trap‘s brief strong language gets by with a PG-13.

Apartment 7A started out with an original screenplay written by Skylar James. Natalie Erika James and Christian White, who wrote the script for her feature debut Relic with her, performed their own rewrite of the script. Skylar James was a writer on the comedic Netflix series The Green Beret’s Guide to the Apocalypse, which was executive produced by Matt Damon and has never been released despite wrapping production in 2018.

The film stars Julia Garner of Ozark and has the following synopsis: When a struggling, young dancer (Garner) 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. Set in 1965 New York City, the film tells the story prior to the legendary horror classic Rosemary’s Baby, exploring what happened in the apartment before Rosemary moved in. 

Garner is joined in the cast by Dianne Wiest (The Lost Boys), Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe), Kevin McNally (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise), Marli Siu (Anna and the Apocalypse), Andrew Buchan (All the Money in the World), Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean), and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Wonka). 

Paramount+’s Jeff Grossman provided this statement: “Apartment 7A is the perfect way to kick off the Halloween season. Director Natalie Erika James and the prodigious creative team have crafted a chilling and clever new entry into the genre.“

Krasinski produced Apartment 7A with Allyson Seeger through their company Sunday Night Productions, while Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller produced through Platinum Dunes. Alexa Ginsburg oversaw the project for Sunday Night Productions, while Alex Ginno did the same for Platinum Dunes.

Are you looking forward to Apartment 7A? What do you think of the film receiving an R rating? Let us know by leaving a comment below.