The first-look images from Babylon offer a glimpse at Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt in character.
La La Land and Whiplash director Damien Chazelle is helming the upcoming Paramount movie as a passion project set in the Jazz Age of 1920s Hollywood when cinema began to move away from silent films to talkies.
Chazelle has been developing a story for the period drama film for more than a decade, but it’s only now, post his recent success at Academy and rise to prominence as one of Hollywood’s most prolific directors that his vision is coming to life.
Initially, there were reports that Chazelle’s Babylon would team Emma Stone with Pitt in the lead roles, with both playing versions of real-life stars from the ’20s era. But Stone ultimately withdrew from the project owing to scheduling conflicts.
In 2020, Robbie stepped into Stone’s shoes, with anticipation for the movie growing as Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Jean Smart, and Tobey Maguire joined the ever-growing ensemble. Filming on Babylon wrapped about a year ago, and now, finally, promotional material from the movie is beginning to surface.
Vanity Fair has shared a bunch of new photos from Babylon, spotlighting Pitt and Robbie’s main characters. Pitt stars as Jack Conrad, a party-loving superstar in his late prime, whereas, Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy, a talented young actress, whose recent breakthrough performance has made heads turn.
As the images show, the actors have essentially embodied versions of themselves in a different period, as their present careers relate well to their roles. In the pictures, Robbie and Pitt both look alluring, with the marvelous cinematography greatly elevating the quality of the movie. Take a look at the pictures below.
As the images clearly reflect, Chazelle’s Babylon perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the ’20s, authentically recreating the ostentatious, gritty, and relentless era in Hollywood, where the entire dynamic was undergoing a massive change, with the status quo within the industry upended.
The inspirations behind the leads (John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks for Pitt’s Jack and Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Crawford, and Alma Rubens for Robbie’s Nellie) are tangible in their characterization. Even though the movie deals with fictional entities, the vibe feels very real and true to the tumultuous change Hollywood, Los Angeles, and its key figures were experiencing during that time.
Besides the main characters, Babylon’s stellar supporting cast also appears to be playing against type, with Smart and Maguire particularly tackling roles that seem more multi-layered and darker than their previous performances.
This is both exciting and intriguing as it adds a dramatic flavor to the movie, enhancing the story in terms of depth and perspective. The set pieces are undoubtedly grand, and with the indulgent and spectacular visuals backdropping the intense and bold tone of the movie, there is a promise that Babylon would ultimately deliver an appeasing and fascinating theatrical experience.
That said, with the new images out, audiences can begin to look forward to a trailer for the movie, which could be just around the corner considering Babylon releases this Christmas, December 25, 2022.
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