Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” will be released on December 23rd. There’s already plenty of anticipation for this film, a demented mix of “Fellini’s Satyricon,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Singin’ in the Rain.”
We had originally reported that the film had an estimated budget of around $100-$110 million. You can’t imagine the amount of emails I’ve gotten since then — people pointing to a Variety piece stating it’s actually $80 million.
Regardless, IndieWire’s Anne Thompson has put all of that to rest now, she writes the budget is said to be a little more than $100 million. On a side note: I am very tempted to include “Babylon” on my ten best list, despite the flaws, it has some of the most hypnotic moments of any movie this year.
“Whiplash” cost $3 million. “La La Land” had a budget of $30 million. “First Man” was around $60 million. The 185-minute “Babylon” has a lot riding on it, I don’t necessarily believe the polarizing reviews will affect its box-office prospects that much, hell, maybe it’ll further pique interest — current projections have it opening at around $18 million next weekend.
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.