Director Damien Chazelle Reflects on His Career After 'Babylon' Flop
Damien Chazelle is opening up about his career.
The 39-year-old Oscar-winning director released his latest film, Babylon, in 2022. The film, which takes viewers back to 1920s Hollywood, stars Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Olivia Wilde, Jean Smart, and more.
Babylon wasn’t the success story many hoped it would be, as the title holds a 57% critic approval rating and 52% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
At the box office, it earned just $15.3 million domestically and $63.6 million worldwide.
Still, Babylon earned a trio of Oscar nominations, but that didn’t stop the film from being deemed a flop.
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During an appearance on the Talking Pictures podcast, Damien spoke about his unnamed upcoming movie and how he hopes to bounce back from Babylon.
“I’ve been head in the sand. I’ve been sort of busy writing. So I’ll get a real taste of how it’s changed or not [since Babylon] once I get to finish this script and try to actually get it made,” the La La Land director said.
On whether his relationship with Hollywood has changed since his shortcomings with Babylon, Damien explained his current position in the industry.
“I’m in a sort of trepidatious state of mind, but I have no illusions. I won’t get a budget of Babylon size any time soon, or at least not on this next one.”
He continued, “Certainly, in financial terms, Babylon didn’t work at all. You try to not have that effect what you’re doing creatively, but, at some level, it can’t help but affect it. But maybe that’s okay? I have very mixed mind about it. Who knows. Maybe I won’t be able to get this one made. I have no idea. We’ll have to wait and see.”
If you haven’t seen, Damien Chazelle reacted to Babylon‘s low Rotten Tomatoes score.