Margot Robbie dominated the box office in 2023 with Barbie, but she was probably expecting to get that Oscar nomination for her work on Damien Chazelle’s Babylon which came out the year prior.
Famously, the $80 million movie flopped at the box office, and was considered a huge bomb, but Robbie (and several other fans) have expressed that they think the film will eventually get its roses somewhere in the future.
Talking to the Talking Pictures podcast (via Variety) Robbie was asked about people not liking the movie, to which she replies, “I am still saying that… I love it. I don’t get it either. I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it. I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, “Babylon” didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that ‘Shawshank Redemption’ was a failure at the time and you’re like like, ‘How is that possible?’”
With Chazelle being behind beloved films like Whiplash and La La Land, a lot of people thought that Babylon was going to be another slam dunk, but when it came out in theaters, it was mostly buried under all of this negative press.
At this point, Chazelle is considered to be in ‘director jail’ and thinks that the reaction from Babylon could lead to his next movie being delayed. Talking to the same podcast earlier this year, he says:
“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 OK? 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.”
Admittedly, more and more people have been gushing about Babylon ever since it came out. It’s definitely a love letter to that era of filmmaking, and Robbie definitely gave the performance her all. It was certainly more taxing to her than Barbie could ever be.
Who knows, maybe in the next few years Robbie fans could be expecting more Barbylon watch parties.
コラ画像作るなら誰も傷つけないの作ろ#Barbylon pic.twitter.com/eemf4BB5QZ
— きゅーり (@7DN8bQZpzGUJ9J8) August 2, 2023
