By It was packed with big names like Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, it hailed from celebrated filmmaker Damien Chazelle following hit “La La Land” and solid performer “First Man,” and it had a lavish budget and a whole lot of saucy appeal along with a historical epic tale.
However 2022’s “Babylon” was a disaster for Paramount – reviews were both mixed and highly divisive, it lost the studio around $87 million after tepid box-office – especially in the U.S. where its total run ended with just $15 million after opening to just $3.5 million – just 20% of box-office projections.
Almost two years on, people look back at the film a bit more kindly but it still isn’t the film classic the studio obviously hoped it would be. Appearing on a recent episode of the Talking Pictures podcast, Robbie says she still believes it should have done far better than it did:
“I don’t get it either. I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it. I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, ‘Babylon’ didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that ‘Shawshank Redemption’ was a failure at the time and you’re like like, ‘How is that possible?’”
The film is set in Hollywood in the 1920s as it transitions from silent films to talkies. Costing nearly $100 million, the R-rated period drama with an over three-hour runtime appeared to turn people off with its marketing, but Robbie adds she still loved the experience and working with Chzaelle.
The post Robbie Unsure Why “Babylon” Failed appeared first on Dark Horizons.
