Apartment 7A‘s Director Explains That Out-of-Continuity Rosemary’s Baby Moment

Apartment 7A deed Paramount+ past week—read io9’s review here—and if you’re a keen-eyed instrumentality of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, you would person noticed a country midway done Natalie Erika James’ prequel that seems to beryllium mounting up a infinitesimal of nonstop overlap betwixt the 2 films. Until… it doesn’t. In a caller interview, James explained the behind-the-scenes reasons wherefore that happened.

Just successful lawsuit you were redeeming Apartment 7A for your October movie list:

The country successful Apartment 7A starts disconnected arsenic the reflector representation of a country successful Rosemary’s Baby. It’s erstwhile Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Terry (Victoria Vetri successful Rosemary’s Baby; Julia Garner successful Apartment 7A) stock a pleasant chat successful the laundry room. Rosemary and her hubby person conscionable moved in, and she’s pleased to conscionable different young pistillate surviving successful the Bramford. Terry explains she was helped retired of a atrocious concern by aged mates Roman and Minnie Castevet—Rosemary’s caller neighbors—and they’ve fixed her a spot to unrecorded due to the fact that they’re conscionable the kindest radical ever.

Rosemary and her caller person hold to bash their laundry unneurotic again due to the fact that the basement is creepy arsenic hell. Tragically, however, their adjacent brushwood is besides their last: Rosemary and Guy conscionable hap to beryllium strolling past erstwhile Terry falls to her decease from the Castevets’ apartment.

In Apartment 7A, however, the laundry country country comes excessively aboriginal successful the movie for Rosemary adjacent beryllium astatine the Bramford; the erstwhile tenant, Mrs. Gardenia, is inactive surviving successful Rosemary’s aboriginal apartment. (In James’ film, we larn a batch much astir that plant-loving lady, and the sinister crushed she departs the building.) Also, the speech doesn’t happen; Terry sees a blonde pistillate with pigtails (Rosemary earlier her celebrated pixie cut) doing her washing, but they don’t interact.

At the extremity of Apartment 7A, Terry inactive meets her decease successful the aforesaid way, and Rosemary and Guy are erstwhile again horrified witnesses—but she is simply a full alien to them.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, James discussed the delicate enactment she had to walk, drafting inspiration archetypal from Ira Levin’s novel, but also, inevitably, Polanski’s movie too.

“One of the large considerations was making definite that determination was a separation betwixt [Apartment 7A] and the archetypal film’s creators not being progressive successful this one,” James told the trade. “So we had these discussions anterior to starting a redraft of the script. We besides tried to notation Ira Levin’s archetypal publication arsenic overmuch arsenic we perchance could and usage that arsenic root material. But, astatine the aforesaid time, due to the fact that the archetypal movie is truthful iconic, it’s benignant of an unavoidable comparison.”

As for that circumstantial scene, “I was ever truly conscious of the information that determination were already truthful galore parallels to the archetypal film, and we were making these truly conscious decisions astir utilizing the Bramford and keeping definite plan features precise consistent,” James said. “But I truly shied distant from wanting to amusement Rosemary’s look oregon immoderate benignant of interaction. It felt, strangely, similar a measurement excessively acold to conscionable recast Mia Farrow, adjacent though Minnie and Roman are reimagined successful their way.”

She agreed with the THR interviewer who pointed retired the country occurs excessively aboriginal successful the movie for the pistillate depicted to really beryllium Rosemary. Originally, the manager said, the laundry country sojourn was slated to hap aboriginal successful the film, meaning the timelines would person lined up much accurately—but an editing prime was made to bump it up. “So you’re close astir the deficiency of continuity from the archetypal with Mrs. Gardenia inactive being around. In the edit process, there’s ever things that person to beryllium shifted to champion archer the story, so, unfortunately, that was 1 of the sacrifices.”

See the country and ideate a re-re-edited mentation for yourself: Apartment 7A is present streaming connected Paramount+.

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