Babylon Footage Reaction: Damien Chazelle Takes Brad Pitt And Margot Robbie Back To 1920s Hollywood [CinemaCon 2022]
It's true: writer-director Damien Chazelle's highly-anticipated follow-up to "La La Land" has finally released some footage. The first look for "Babylon" — a film that explores the transition out of silent films in 1920s Hollywood — has arrived from CinemaCon. The movie has been in the works since pre-pandemic 2019, and with such an incredible cast (we're talking Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Samara Weaving, Katherine Waterson, Phoebe Tonkin, Max Minghella, Lukas Haas, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne, Damon Gupton, Rory Scovel, and even Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea), it's great to see exactly what the fuss is about with the upcoming picture.
Babylon at CinemaCon
The footage shown at CinemaCon begins with Brad Pitt, wearing only underwear and a tank top, declaring, "We have to redefine the form of movies," as he fires a gun in a hotel room. He seems to be taking on the role of producer, and he's later shown living the life of Hollywood glamour, looking suave and driving an expensive-looking car.
We also catch a glimpse of Margot Robbie as Clara Bow, going full movie star as Hollywood's first It-girl. Pitt's character continues with his sweeping statements about Hollywood evolution, saying "What happens on the screen means something."
On the set of a big action epic, in the middle of a desert, Pitt's character stands in a tent, wearing chainmail and a fake nose. A spear comes flying in and embeds itself into the wood nearby and though it nearly hits him, he's nonplussed. The producer seems to be moonlighting as an actor — and he may not be alone. Robbie's character is later seen on what looks like the same desert set, lounging in a chair under an umbrella. As the camera pushes in on her, she says "it's time for my close up" and indeed we go in close, just in time to catch the glint in her eye.
In a November 2019 report, the film was described by The Hollywood Reporter to be:
"...set in the late 1920s, during the movie industry's transition from silent films to talkies. The rise and fall of fictional and historical characters figure into the proceedings. If deals are made, [Margot Robbie] would portray Clara Bow, the early sex symbol and box office star who was Hollywood's first "It" girl. [Brad] Pitt would play a fictional character, a silent film star who fails to make the transition to the new technology; sources say he is based on real-life figure John Gilbert."
"Babylon" is set to premiere in theatres via Paramount Pictures later this year on December 25, 2022.