When I compared Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” to Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate” last month, I was being very serious. This was a major gamble for Paramount and thank the cinematic heavens they had “Top Gun: Maverick” make $1.7 billion this year because otherwise they’d be in a slightly disastrous situation.
According to Deadline’s financial sources, the bleeding Paramount will take from “Babylon” bombing can only be described as brutal. Yes, the Robbie-Pitt epic doesn’t start its overseas rollout until mid-January, but the only way for it to actually break even is if it makes $250 million — which will be impossible.
“Babylon” made $3.4 million this past weekend and Deadline claims the film will be lucky if it even hits $20 million overall. We’re looking at potential losses of over $200 million here. The pic has however notched five Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture Musical or Comedy, and might get a few Oscar nominations come next month, but that won’t help .
Those estimated losses of $200 million will be up there with the very worst ever. “John Carter” ($200 million), “The Lone Ranger” ($190 million), “Mortal Engines” ($184 million). The only difference between those and Chazelle’s epic is that “Babylon” is actually a good movie.
At this point, Oscar voters voting for “Babylon” will be doing so out of pity rather than for its actual qualities.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.