Stephen King Says ‘Babylon’ Might be “Acclaimed As A Classic in 20 Years”

The more risk-taking a film is, the more divided the reaction will be. Many film critics could not stand the excessive nature of Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon”, To the point where it garnered a 57% rotten score.

The film also tanked at the box-office, making $63 million against a production budget of $78–80 million. The film ultimately lost Paramount $87 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

Chazelle’s film might have been flawed, but it has these batshit crazy moments that have stayed etched in my memory. It’s very hard to completely fault a filmmaker for taking a big swing, and, on a moment by moment basis, “Babylon” gave me more cinematic thrills than almost any other movie released last year.

Author Stephen King is a fan and he went on his Twitter handle to rave about the film, which he’s finally seen:

Maybe this says more about me than the film, but I thought BABYLON was utterly brilliant--extravagant, over the top, hilarious, thought-provoking. Might be one of those movies that reviews badly and is acclaimed as a classic in 20 years.

I wrote this about “Babylon” last January:

Forget about Oscars or box-office numbers for a second, I do believe “Babylon” will stand the test of time. Much like the other critically reviled arthouse film this year, “Blonde,” there is so much to dissect in this movie, it encompasses the kind of cinema that would have been celebrated just a few decades ago. A critical re-evaluation will most likely happen for “Babylon.”

It happens every decade, there’s a handful of films that received a critical drubbing only to get reappraised the following decade. I sure hope that happens with Chazelle’s “Babylon.”

Many readers on this site also responded very enthusiastically to “Babylon.” Back in early January, Chazelle’s film finished at #10 on our 2022 readers poll, despite having only been released in theaters for just over a week when results were tabulated. This tells me that a critical reappraisal might very well occur for the film in the years to come.

“Babylon” starred Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, and Li Jun Li. The film chronicled the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood's transition from silent to sound films in the late 1920s.