EXCLUSIVE: Ready Or Not and Scream 6 actress Samara Weaving is attached to star in action-horror movie Azrael, which is being eyed by producers as a franchise.
12.09.2022 - 22:49 / variety.com
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Damien Chazelle was itching for a change of pace. “After the quietness of ‘First Man,'” he says, referring to his 2018 astronaut drama, much of which unfolded in deep space, “I wanted to do something big, boisterous and loud.” The result is “Babylon,” a star-studded homage to Hollywood’s silent era, a movie that captures “humanity at its most glamorous and animalistic,” the director teases. “It’s a mostly fictional film.” Chazelle brought a never-before-seen trailer to the Toronto Film Festival, where he spoke at length about his career — namely “Whiplash” and “La La Land” — in a keynote conversation with CEO Cameron Bailey. The Oscar-winning filmmaker is still in post-production on “Babylon,” which opens in theaters on Dec. 25. “I’ll be very happy to finally finish it.”
Set in the late 1920s at the twilight of the silent era, “Babylon” puts the spotlight on Brad Pitt as a bonafide film star and Margot Robbie as a Roaring Twenties icon against the backdrop of an entertainment business in flux. “They are building a city from scratch and an industry from scratch,” Chazelle hints. “It was about capturing the spirit of that time, which I’d say was a lot more wild west.” In effect, that means “excess, more drugs, more extreme living on all ends of the spectrum.” Along with Robbie and Pitt, the starry cast includes Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Spike Jonze, Jean Smart, Flea, Samara Weaving and Olivia Wilde. “‘Babylon was the biggest cast, the biggest number of roles I’ve ever juggled, by far,” Chazelle said. “The casting process took a long time.” Though the film is fictional, the characters were “inspired by composites of real-life people.” “I was getting inspiration from real life
EXCLUSIVE: Ready Or Not and Scream 6 actress Samara Weaving is attached to star in action-horror movie Azrael, which is being eyed by producers as a franchise.
There is a movie that opened in theaters on Friday from a well-known female director that should be on your radar but probably isn’t. No, it’s not Olivia Wilde‘s oversaturated “Don’t Worry Darling.” It’s the second feature film from Lena Dunham in the past 12 months, “Catherine Called Birdy.” And, frankly, it’s a joy.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Is it true that, as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity? “Don’t Worry Darling,” a movie that’s been largely overshadowed in recent weeks by relentless off-screen controversies, will test that adage as it debuts in 4,000-plus North American theaters over the weekend. The Warner Bros. film, directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, is expected to generate $18 million to $20 million in its opening weekend, suggesting that behind-the-scenes drama isn’t dinging initial ticket sales. It may even be lifting them. Some independent tracking services indicate that inaugural returns could reach as high as $25 million, but anywhere in the high teens would be a solid start for “Don’t Worry Darling,” which cost $35 million to produce.
Toronto Film Festival returned in spectacular fashion after two years of virtual premieres or limited capacity screenings. The parties were packed (which may lead to COVID outbreaks down the road, but… that’s showbiz?), the red carpets were glittering and the atmosphere was electric, bordering on euphoric, as director Rian Johnson’s acclaimed sequel “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story,” Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” and the Harry Styles-led romantic drama “My Policeman” debuted to blockbuster-starved audiences in Canada. Hollywood seemed eager to make up for lost time. So, as the curtain comes down on TIFF, here’s a look back at the major trends and takeaways from the 10-day festival.
Though it feels like an ice age has come and gone, it wasn’t so long ago that writer/director Damien Chazelle became Hollywood’s golden boy. After making a name for himself with 2014’s “Whiplash,” Chazelle solidified his reputation as Tinseltown’s favorite young filmmaker with the 2016 megahit musical “La La Land,” which earned nearly $450 million at the box office and a record-tying fourteen Oscar nominations.
A new documentary series from Netflix is telling the story of the infamous thieves known as the Bling Ring.
The trailer for Damien Chazelle‘s Babylon has finally arrived, and it features a funny Brad Pitt moment!
First at April’s CinemaCon, and then June’s CineEurope, exhibition got a glimpse of Damien Chazelle’s upcoming Hollywood-set period extravaganza Babylon. On Monday, Paramount showed off the trailer at TIFF, and today dropped it for the rest of the world – check it out above.
“Babylon.”“I LOVE that answer,” Nellie shouts. It makes sense, then, that Damien Chazelle’s latest feature film boasts the logline, “Always make a scene.” It’s clear that these characters are ready to make theirs. Per a release from Paramount: “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.
The first trailer for Academy Award-winning director Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon”, an “original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva,” has been released.
Carson Burton Damien Chazelle is returning to the twilight of Hollywood’s silent era in his newest film “Babylon.”Starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, “Babylon” is set in the late 1920s and captures the film industry’s transition from silent films to “talkies” due to the invention of synchronized sound. Pitt plays a silent film star during the time, and Robbie is a roaring twenties icon. As Hollywood shifts around them, they are forced to grapple with an evolving industry.“When I first moved to Hollywood, the stars on all the doors said ‘No actors and no dogs allowed,’” Pitt’s character says in the trailer. “I changed that.”
Though it feels like an ice age has come and gone, it wasn’t so long ago that writer/director Damien Chazelle became Hollywood’s golden boy. After making a name for himself with 2014’s “Whiplash,” Chazelle solidified his reputation as Tinseltown’s favorite young filmmaker with the 2016 megahit musical “La La Land,” which earned nearly $450 million at the box office and a record-tying fourteen Oscar nominations.