First Look at ‘Babylon’ Teases An Ambitious Production from Damien Chazelle

Vanity Fair has released first-look images at Damien Chazelle‘s latest movie, Babylon. Written and directed by Chazelle, the movie boasts an ensemble cast comprised of Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Jean Smart, Max Minghella, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Lukas Haas, and Eric Roberts, among others.

The movie will be taking place in 1920s Hollywood, showcasing a skyrocketing film industry on the brink of massive success. From the look of its images, the production design looks vast and expansive, perfectly capturing the spirit of the “roaring ’20s”, and you can look at one of the images below:

Robbie will be playing Nellie LaRoy, described in the Vanity Fair article as “a scrappy aspiring actress who’s an amalgam of early stars like Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, Joan Crawford, and Alma Rubens.” Initially slated to be played by Emma Stone, the Academy Award winner dropped out in late 2020 due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Robbie afterward. The first look at her character can be seen below:

Pitt plays Jack Conrad, a full-on movie star ” inspired by the likes of John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks,” while newcomer Diego Calva will be portraying Manny Torres, “a Mexican immigrant who, as an outsider in Hollywood, serves as the audience’s eyes in the world of Babylon.” The two of them share the screen together, alongside Lukas Haas, who plays George Munn, and Jean Smart, playing Elinor St. John. Check out the images below:

Other major characters in the movie includes Lee Jun Li as Lady Fay Zhu, Jovan Adepo as Sidney Palmer, and Tobey Maguire as James McKay. While the characters are inspired by real-life actors, everyone involved in the story of Babylon is fictional, except for Minghella who will be playing real-life producer Irving Thalberg. Still, the movie paints the rise of Hollywood in a romanticized fashion rather than a purely accurate one. You can check out images on the respective characters below:

Babylon re-teams Chazelle with composer Justin Hurwitz, cinematographer Linus Sandgren, and editor Tom Cross, who previously worked with him on Whiplash (save for Sandgren), La La Land, and First Man. Hurwitz also collaborated with Chazelle on his first movie, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. The movie is currently slated to release in theatres on December 25, the perfect slate for an Awards-worthy film!

Source: Vanity Fair