Damien Chazelle is arguably becoming one of the most watched directors to have come out of this decade. Jordan Peele is the only other one I can think of that comes close. Chazelle became the youngest person to win the Best Director Oscar for La La Land, and his next film looks to head back to Tinseltown.
The Hollywood Reporter says Paramount has scooped up Babylon and has given it a limited release date of December 25, 2021 with a wide release planned for January 7, 2022. Additionally, Brad Pitt and Emma Stone are in talks to play the lead roles.
THR has a loose description of the plot:
The story is said 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, Stone would portray Clara Bow, the early sex symbol and box office star who was Hollywood’s first “It” girl. 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.
Other sites have noted the film’s similarity to The Artist, the 2011 film in which Berenice Bejo played the rising star and Jean Dujardin played the silent film star who is overshadowed during the transition. The Artist was a major player at the Oscars that year winning five awards, including the highly coveted Best Picture and Best Director. Hollywood loves films about Hollywood.
Whiplash and La La Land are a couple of my favorite films, so I’m looking forward to seeing Chazelle’s take on 1920s Hollywood. It will also be nice to see him reunite with Stone, and I mean who doesn’t want to see Brad Pitt in another period role after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
What are your thoughts on Damien Chazelle? Do you like his work? Were you disappointed when First Man underperformed last year?
