Paramount has debuted a new trailer for director Damien Chazelle’s upcoming comedy-drama Babylon, starring Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and newcomer Diego Calva. Set during a particularly turbulent time in the history of Hollywood, the film presents the “depravity and debauchery” of the movie industry in the 1920s, through the outsider perspective of a lowly assistant named Manny, played by Calva.
Manny’s an idealist who wants to be a part of something meaningful, while Pitt’s seasoned movie star character Jack Conrad is a more cynical figure, who, after having experienced the best and worst of the industry, has decided that he prefers sticking to success. Robbie, on the other hand, plays Nellie, an up-and-coming young actress who knows exactly what she needs to do in order to climb up the ladder. The trio represents three contrasting (but intrinsically bound) perspectives of the entertainment industry.
The trailer also mirrors Chazelle's own journey through Hollywood, an industry that has given him so much professional success, but also burdened him as an artist with huge expectations to deliver on. The new trailer teases the maximalist tone of the film — punctuated by glimpses of an elephant, a crocodile, and a cackling Tobey Maguire — which earned divisive first reactions after recent screenings.
We also see majestic film productions, disgruntled crews, and a diverse slate of (both real and fictional) characters. The busy visuals and visible excesses might remind viewers of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, but there’s an unmistakable Chazelle-like quality to the mauve-tinted widescreen epicness of the film’s aesthetic, no doubt aided by his regular cinematographer Linus Sandgren.
Chazelle made his debut with the lowkey drama Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, and gained further recognition with the intense Whiplash. He followed it up with the critical and commercial smash hit La La Land, and most recently directed the underrated and unconventional Neil Armstrong biopic First Man. Chazelle also helmed the first two episodes of Netflix’s The Eddy.
Babylon is Paramount’s big Oscar contender in what has been an exceptional year for the studio. In addition to having distributed the biggest movie of 2022 — Top Gun: Maverick — Paramount also released hit films such as Scream, Jackass Forever, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, The Lost City, and Smile this year.
Babylon also stars Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, and Olivia Wilde. The film will be released in theaters on December 23. You can watch the new trailer here, and read the official synopsis down below:
From Damien Chazelle, BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.