Following the huge financial disappointment of 2022ās Babylon, Damien Chazelle states that heās not even sure if his next script will get made.
Damien Chazelle is at an interesting point in his career. Up until 2022ās Babylon, everything the directorās previous three films had earned critical plaudits or made lots of cash. In the case of Whiplash and La La Land, those two films did both and solidified Chazelleās reputation as one of a handful of directors set to revive Hollywoodās output and lead a new generation of American filmmakers.
However, the last few years have seen something of a bump in the road for Chazelle.
Following his Oscar for Best Director in the wake of La La Land, Chazelle has made 2018ās First Man and then 2022ās Babylon. The former didnāt exactly set the box office on fire but it did enough, and picked up some critical praise. However, things completely derailed at the tail-end of 2022 when Chazelle released Babylon, an expensive epic charting the early days of Hollywood.
The film starred Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva and its budget has been slated as somewhere between $80 ā $110m. However, at the global box office it only recouped around $60m of that back. Worse still, it found itself almost completely shut out of that yearās awards circuit.
Itās worth noting that this doesnāt necessarily make Babylon a ābadā film by the way. Itās ambitious, expansive, beautifully-made and well worth seeking out. However, the filmās failure to connect with audiences means that one of the leading lights of his generation is now facing a more uncertain future as he pens his next project.
Damien Chazelle has admitted as much to TCMās Talking Pictures podcast, stating that the filmās financial failure could effectively brick his next project, stating “certainly, in financial terms, Babylon didn’t work at all.”
Chazelle said that āyou 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 a 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.”
Damien Chazelle suggests that he hasnāt really come to terms with the filmās failure on a personal level either, adding that he has instead simply put all of his focus into working on the next project. “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.”
As we donāt yet know the scale of Chazelleās ambitions for his next project, itās impossible to guess just how likely he is to find a studio that will back him. Still, quality will always shine through and thereās no doubt that the Whiplash filmmaker has bags of the stuff. Weāll bring you more on Damien Chazelleās post-Babylon project as we hear it.