Damien Chazelle Teases ‘Big, Boisterous, Loud’ Hollywood Epic ‘Babylon’ With Wild, Cocaine-Fueled Trailer
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.”