The trailer for Paramount's highly anticipated Babylon, starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt is here, painting a picture of a wild and scandalous story.
Written and directed by Academy Award-winner Damien Chazelle, Babylon is a period epic that chronicles Hollywood's transition away from silent movies and the explosive entrance of the "talkie." Set during the 1920s, the movie sports an ensemble cast of Robbie, Pitt, Tobey Maguire, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Li Jun Lei and Jean Smart. While details on Babylon's plot are still scarce, the film will seemingly be following the lives of various players in the evolving film industry as they try to balance a life of hedonism, business and creative fulfillment.
While Babylon is filled with a variety of established and beloved actors, Pitt and Robbie take center stage as Jack Conrad and Nellie LaRoy, respectively. The former is a renowned movie star with an appetite for massive parties and pleasure but is quickly reaching a point in his life where he's past his prime. As for Nellie, the young performer is looking for her big break into the film industry and is willing to do anything to land her dream role. Robbie's character is inspired by the likes of Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels and Joan Crawford.
Speaking about Babylon to Vanity Fair, Chazelle noted that while the film may be stocked with larger-than-life characters and glamorous set pieces, the real focus is on the characters caught up in Hollywood's need to adapt and improve. "Everything is shifting underneath people’s feet," Chazelle said, "and I became really fascinated by the human cost of disruption at that magnitude, at a time when there was no road map, when everything was just new and wild."
Chazelle also discussed his decision to cast Robbie and Pitt as Babylon's leads, noting that due to their work on Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, he was confident that the pair would be able to make their characters feel real. "Part of what was magical about working with them in these roles is that each of them felt like they were really able to make the performance the most personal thing they had done," Chazelle said.
Babylon hits select theaters on Dec. 25 before releasing nationwide on Jan. 6, 2023.
Source: YouTube, Vanity Fair