When it was originally announced, Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” seemed like a no-brainer, Oscar favorite. An epic tale of Old Hollywood, written and directed by the filmmaker behind “Whiplash,” “La La Land,” and “First Man.” That’s such an easy sell. Then you add to it a cast that is headlined by Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt. Again, the term no-brainer comes to mind. Alas, the film debuted in theaters this past weekend, in one of the traditionally busy weekends at the box office, and “Babylon” bombed. Worse than even people were predicting. Now, it appears the film is going to fail to break even at the box office and lose a lot of money.
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In a post-weekend box office report, Deadline breaks down the performance of “Babylon” after its first four days in theaters. The film, with a reported budget of $80-ish million, only earned a paltry $4.85 million at the box office. When you consider Paramount is expected to spend $80 million worldwide on marketing for Damien Chazelle’s film, you see that the studio is hoping the film can earn $250 million worldwide to break even. At this rate, the film is likely going to earn less than $20 million domestically, which puts all of the pressure on international audiences to embrace “Babylon” and help Paramount see a profit in theaters. Spoiler alert — it ain’t happening.
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So, what went wrong? How can a film that seems to be too big to fail end up bombing in such spectacular fashion? Well, what wasn’t mentioned in the original announcement of “Babylon” is the fact that Chazelle was crafting a 3-hour film that is often described as “cocaine-fueled” in reviews. That’s because there are heaps of nudity and ridiculous sexual situations and gross-out moments in the film. Add to that the middling reviews, and you get the recipe for a film that is struggling to find an audience.
Oh yeah, and let’s not forget there is bad weather in much of the United States, and there’s a little film called “Avatar: The Way of Water” sucking all of the air out of the room. But even as counter-programming goes, it looks like “Babylon” just can’t lock down that older audience who isn’t interested in Pandora or blue aliens in 3D.
Maybe, if “Babylon” is able to rack up more awards noms, including the coveted Oscars recognition, there could be a resurgence for the film. But as of now, Damien Chazelle’s newest film is not looking really great financially.