by Helen Langdon
NBC’s new adaptation of Rosemary’s Baby promises to be both horrifying and thrilling, including far more of the details from Ira Levin’s original 1967 novel than Roman Polanski’s 1968 film. As opposed to Polanski’s enforced two-hour runtime, this miniseries is set to air over four hours in two episodes.
NBC’s new adaptation of Rosemary’s Baby promises to be both horrifying and thrilling, including far more of the details from Ira Levin’s original 1967 novel than Roman Polanski’s 1968 film. As opposed to Polanski’s enforced two-hour runtime, this miniseries is set to air over four hours in two episodes.
Rosemary’s Baby tells the story of a young couple who move into a new apartment with a disturbing history. When Rosemary falls pregnant, she begins to worry that her husband and new neighbours have ulterior motives.
This new adaptation is being directed by Agnieszka Holland, most famous for directing episodes of The Wire, and co-written by Scott Abbott (Queen of the Damned) and James Wong (American Horror Story). Rosemary is played by Zoe Saldana, with her husband, Guy, played by Patrick J Adams, best known for his starring role in Suits. Filling out the cast is Jason Isaacs as the main villain, in the grand tradition of American media featuring British actors as the bad guys.
Possibly the most iconic image from Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby is Mia Farrow’s pixie cut, which features heavily in the miniseries trailer (interestingly, in the film, Farrow wore a long-haired wig in the earlier scenes, while in the miniseries Saldana’s short hair is a wig). But there are certain differences – rather than being filmed in Manhattan, this version is set in Paris. And rather than Guy being an actor, he will be a writer.
The trailer gives no hints as to whether or not Polanski’s verisimilitude will be carried over onto TV. He insisted upon Mia Farrow eating raw chicken liver, and on her walking out into traffic while he filmed her with a handheld camera (he justified that cars would avoid hitting a pregnant woman). But the trailer does show us a snippet of the rape scene, with nails brutally stabbing Rosemary’s back.
The miniseries has not yet acquired a UK distributor, and will be shown on NBC on Sunday 11th May and Thursday 15th May.
This new adaptation is being directed by Agnieszka Holland, most famous for directing episodes of The Wire, and co-written by Scott Abbott (Queen of the Damned) and James Wong (American Horror Story). Rosemary is played by Zoe Saldana, with her husband, Guy, played by Patrick J Adams, best known for his starring role in Suits. Filling out the cast is Jason Isaacs as the main villain, in the grand tradition of American media featuring British actors as the bad guys.
Possibly the most iconic image from Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby is Mia Farrow’s pixie cut, which features heavily in the miniseries trailer (interestingly, in the film, Farrow wore a long-haired wig in the earlier scenes, while in the miniseries Saldana’s short hair is a wig). But there are certain differences – rather than being filmed in Manhattan, this version is set in Paris. And rather than Guy being an actor, he will be a writer.
The trailer gives no hints as to whether or not Polanski’s verisimilitude will be carried over onto TV. He insisted upon Mia Farrow eating raw chicken liver, and on her walking out into traffic while he filmed her with a handheld camera (he justified that cars would avoid hitting a pregnant woman). But the trailer does show us a snippet of the rape scene, with nails brutally stabbing Rosemary’s back.
The miniseries has not yet acquired a UK distributor, and will be shown on NBC on Sunday 11th May and Thursday 15th May.
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