Babylon: 5 Quick Things We Know About Damien Chazelle's Upcoming Movie

Damien Chazelle has wowed audiences over and over again with his fantastic entries into the medium of film, from him blasting his way into our hearts with Whiplash, to taking us back in time with the jazz themes of La La Land, and soaring out to the moon in First Man. This director has truly brought some of the coolest things to the big screen over the last decade, and now, he’s going to be adding a new movie to that list soon enough – Babylon. 

While Babylon has been in production for some time, not much is known about the upcoming Chazelle film, as details of the movie have pretty much been kept under wraps since it was announced years ago. However, we have some quick things that you might want to know if you’re looking forward to the next Chazelle film, including what to look out for when this movie drops in theaters.

Babylon Is Set To Come Out In 2022

Be sure to add this entry from the 2022 movie releases to your personal watch list, as Babylon is set to come out in 2022 at the end of the year.

According to Collider, Babylon was originally slated to release at the end of 2021, but due to COVID-19 and production pushbacks, the release date was moved a whole year ahead, until the end of 2022. But, with this in mind, we can confirm that Babylon is set to release in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25, 2022, in a limited release, with a wide release on January 6, 2023.

While December still feels so far away, I’m sure that the summer and fall months will fly right past us, and soon we’ll be back in theaters to witness Chazelle’s awesome directing skills once again.

Babylon Has Wrapped Filming

Another great piece of news that has come out recently is that Babylon has actually already wrapped filming, which means now the movie is in the post-production stage.

According to a Twitter post from one of the crew members of the film, Bryan Mendoza, they wrapped Babylon on October 21, 2021, saying that it was one of the “toughest projects” that he’d ever worked on. With that in mind, I’m eager to see where this film goes and how much work was put into it.

Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, And More Are Set To Star

Are you ready for a star-studded cast? Because I am. Babylon is set to star both Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in the lead roles. Originally, Emma Stone, who was the star of the La La Land cast and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Damien Chazelle musical, was set to star in Babylon, but she exited the project due to scheduling reasons, according to Deadline.

In the same article, it was said that Margot Robbie was in early talks to take over the role, and it was confirmed not that long later that she would take over in the starring role. This is great for both Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, as the two of them had previously starred as member of the Once Upon A Time in Hollywood cast together, with Pitt even winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance, so it’ll be exciting to see them working so closely together again.

But don’t think that the stars end there. Babylon is set to have a plethora of them. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jean Smart, now best known for her role in the great HBO Max original series, Hacks, will also have a role in Babylon. Another member that joined the ensemble was Jovan Adepo, according to Deadline, who rose to fame from his role in the critically acclaimed film, Fences.

Katherine Waterston also joined Babylon in an undisclosed role, according to Deadline. Three other big-time actors –  Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, and Tobey Maguire – also have big supporting roles in Babylon, according to Collider. In another article from Empire, it was confirmed that Samara Weaving, Max Minghella, Flea, and even more have signed on for Babylon. The stars just keep on coming.

This isn’t that much of a surprise, as Damien Chazelle’s movies have always brought in big names, such as J.K. Simmons for Whiplash – where he won an Academy Award for his performance, as well – or Ryan Gosling, John Legend, and many others, so seeing all these stars sign on to a film like this will surely make for a fun time.

Babylon Will Deal With The Transition From Silent Films To Talkies 

Obviously, way back when, before movies became what we know them as today, they were silent films, and there were sometimes different stars for those kinds of movies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this film is going to examine the transition from silent films to talkies, and how that affected stars at the time.

In the original announcement for the film, it was said that it’s going to be set in the late 1920s when talkies were just starting to come out, and how silent film stars, both fictional and those based off of historical figures, rose and fell during this transition.

Brad Pitt’s Character Is Based On John Gilbert

As I’ve said before, not much is known about the characters and storyline of this film, as they’ve been keeping this movie pretty locked down in terms of letting details get out there. We don’t even have a trailer of Babylon yet. However, we do know some key details about Brad Pitt’s character, and that he is going to be based on John Gilbert, a silent film star, according to IndieWire.

In the Paramount showcase at CinemaCon 2022, some footage of Babylon was shown, with Brad Pitt in all his glory in a fake prosthetic nose to portray the iconic actor. Margot Robbie was also seen in the footage as well, playing Clara Bow, a real-life titan of the film industry, as well as several of the other key characters of the film.

While it’ll be some time before we actually get to see this next Damien Chazelle film come to life, I’m sure that over time, we’re only going to get more and more promotion for this already awesome-sounding film. With both Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt having new films coming out in summer 2022 – the upcoming movie, Barbie, and the upcoming action film, Bullet Train – 2022 is looking to be a good year for these two talented performers, and I for one can’t wait to see them in Babylon together.