Damien Chazelle Shopping 'Babylon' Around Studios With Emma Stone And Brad Pitt Circling
Director Damien Chazelle didn't get nearly as much acclaim as he deserved for last year's biographical historical drama First Man. The chronicle of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon and the key moments that led to it was much more than your average account of NASA's exploits in the space race, but the film only garnered a few technical award nominations at the Oscars. But this is Hollywood, and Chazelle will likely have another chance at Oscar gold with his next project.
After drumming up praise with films like Whiplash and bringing classic musical flair with La La Land, Damien Chazelle is shopping a new project called Babylon around Hollywood. If Chazelle by himself isn't enough to excite you, maybe a reunion with Oscar nominee Emma Stone will help sweeten the deal.
Deadline has word that Damien Chazelle's Babylon is an original drama with a period setting in Hollywood. The project is said to be "a bold auteur piece with a significant budget," which sounds like it has classic showbiz written all over it. The Hollywood Reporter has more details, adding that the movie will be set in the 1920s as Tinseltown made the transition from silent films to talkies, focusing on the rise of fall of fictional and historical characters in show business. That makes me instantly interested in what Damien Chazelle has up his sleeve. However, don't believe the rumor that it's another musical, because apparently that's not the case.UPDATE: Deadline has now learned that in addition to Emma Stone being involved, Brad Pitt is also circling the project now. However, neither of them has a closed deal for the project yet.
As of now, Lionsgate is supposedly the frontrunnter to pick up Babylon, and since that's the studio which distributed La La Land to the tune of 14 nominations at the Oscars, that makes sense. But there's always the chance that another studio will come in with an offer that ends up snagging the project. Right now there's an auction going on between some of the studios, so there should be more news on that front soon.
Classic Hollywood movies have always been popular among studios. It all ties into to the self-congratulatory style that Hollywood has had for years. If there's a movie about how movies have changed the world or had some kind of important impact in a historical event, The Academy just drools all over it. Of course, many cinephiles like us and general audiences alike enjoy seeing that kind of movie too, so we're not going to criticize or complain.
Babylon will be produced by Olivia Hamilton (an actress with a small role in La La Land), Matt Plouffe (Pawn Sacrifice) and Marc Platt (La La Land). As soon as we hear more about the project, we'll let you know.