After ‘Babylon’ flop, Damien Chazelle knows his next film will have a smaller budget – if it gets made at all
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About a decade ago, Damien Chazelle was Hollywood’s hottest young filmmaker. His indie hit “Whiplash” made tens of millions of dollars in profit and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He followed it up with “La La Land,” which earned hundreds of millions in profit and made him the youngest Best Director Oscar winner ever at age 32. He was riding high. But what goes up must come down.
His next film, 2018’s “First Man,” underperformed at the box office and the Oscars. And 2022’s “Babylon” was an outright flop, losing money, winning no Academy Awards, and earning mixed reviews from critics and a fair amount of derision for its three-hour runtime and over-the-top spectacle – this despite a loyal hive of fans who remain convinced it will age like a lost masterpiece. Regardless, it was the kind of exercise in excess that can derail a director’s career – or at least reduce the size of the opportunities they get.
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Chazelle is aware of this. He’s working on a new script now, and he says he doesn’t anticipate that he’ll get anywhere near the reported $80 million budget he scored for “Babylon.”
During an appearance on the “Talking Pictures” podcast, host Ben Mankiewicz asked Chazelle if his reception in Hollywood has changed after “Babylon” lost money.
“I’ve sort of had my head in the sand writing, so I think I’ll get a real taste of how it’s changed or not once I finish this next script and try to actually get it made. I’m in a trepidatious sort of state of mind. I have no illusions. I’m not gonna get a budget of ‘Babylon’ size any time soon, or at least not on this next one,” he said.
Chazelle said that he’s always anxious about making another film whether or not the previous one was successful, but what happened with “Babylon” does change the equation a bit.
“Certainly, in financial terms, ‘Babylon’ didn’t work at all,” he said. “You try to not have that affect what you’re doing creatively, but maybe at some level, it can’t help but affect it. But then maybe that’s okay? I don’t know, I’m really of mixed minds about it. I guess I have to try to do what I would have done regardless. And then you see. Who knows, maybe I won’t be able to get this one made. I have no idea. We’ll have to see.”
Chazelle didn’t give any details about what the project he’s working on will be. He’s surely hoping it will be his “Raging Bull” and not his “Year of the Dragon.”
“Babylon” is a dark comedy that charts the rise and fall of a trio of Hollywood stars during the transition from silent to sound films. It stars Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and Diego Calva. It was nominated for Academy Awards for costume design, production design, and original score, winning none.
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