Summary

• The Paramount+ prequel Apartment 7A will explore the horror classic Rosemary's Baby with a promising creative team behind the project.
• The movie is set to premiere in the Fall, kicking off the Halloween season for viewers interested in chilling and clever new entries to the genre.
• The success of Apartment 7A as the latest horror prequel could impact the trend of expanding iconic franchises, following mixed reviews for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines and a struggling box office for The First Omen.

The Bramford is getting a new tenant in Apartment 7A. The Paramount+ movie serves as a prequel to Rosemary's Baby, centers on a struggling young dancer played by Ozark's Julia Garner who moves into the titular residence after a devastating injury, only to meet a well-connected older couple who offer her the promise of a shot at fame, only to have a darker motivation. Also starring Dianne Wiest, Jim Sturgess and Kevin McNally, Apartment 7A is helmed by Natalie Erika James on a script she co-wrote with story developer Skylar James and Christian White, with John Krasinski, Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller producing.

Just over three years after the project was first announced, Paramount+ has revealed the first image and release window for Apartment 7A.

The image, as seen above, keeps the actual characters of the Rosemary's Baby prequel under wraps, instead offering an ominous look at the Bramford apartment building and the hallway outside the titular apartment. The streamer has also announced that the movie will premiere sometime in the Fall, with Paramount+ Executive Vice President of Programming Jeff Grossman writing of the movie in the following 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.

Apartment 7A Is Coming At A Unique Time In The Horror Genre

While Apartment 7A marks the latest prequel to a horror classic, its success could make or break this recent trend.

Interestingly, this is the first official confirmation from Paramount+ that Apartment 7A will be a prequel to Rosemary's Baby after previous reports indicated that it would be. It also marks the latest effort to expand the franchise based on Ira Levin's beloved horror novel after the poorly received made-for-TV sequel and Zoe Saldaña-led 2014 miniseries adaptation, which similarly garnered mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. With James and White having already seen plenty of acclaim with 2020's Relic, it does have a promising creative backing to match the heights of the original movie.

More than just building out the property, Apartment 7A also comes at an interesting time in the horror genre, as various filmmakers bring their takes in prequel form to iconic titles. Paramount+ already has their own past with this in the form of 2023's Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, which explored the origin story of Jud Crandall before the events of the original Stephen King book and 2019 movie. Even more recently came the release of The First Omen which, in spite of some initial struggles at the box office, has become a 2024 hit, garnering the best reviews for its franchise since the 1976 original.

While Apartment 7A marks the latest prequel to a horror classic, its success could make or break this recent trend. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines garnered largely negative reviews from critics, and The First Omen got off to a slow start at the box office against Monkey Man, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the similarly premised Immaculate, which quickly became a hit. While a streaming home does leave some room open for how it factors into other studios greenlighting horror prequels, should it similarly struggle, it may raise concerns among studios about the viability of these expansions for iconic franchises.

Source: Paramount+