After writer/director Damien Chazelle made two of the most critically acclaimed movies of the 2010s, it felt like a big-budget follow-up starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie would be a shoo-in for a box office and critical success. However, that was very much not the case with 2022’s Babylon. The movie earned mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike and flopped big time at the box office, making $64 million worldwide against a reported $80 million budget. Now, new comments from Margot Robbie about the movie share her hopes for it, and I think she might be on to something.
Margot Robbie is well-acquainted with smashing records at the box office thanks to last summer’s Barbie. However, when it comes to looking back on her leading role in Babylon, she doesn’t understand why people didn’t connect with it. In her words:
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 really hated it. I often 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, ‘How is that possible?’
Robbie made these comments while on a recent episode of Talking Pictures Podcast. The host told her he had not seen the movie when it came out initially, but when he finally got to it he couldn’t understand the hate around it. Robbie agreed, of course admitting she was biased, but also suggesting that perhaps it will earn its stars in a decade or so.
While talking about this, she mentioned The Shawshank Redemption, which famously flopped in theaters when it came out before becoming well-known as one of the best movies of all time.
Sometimes it’s not the movie itself, it’s the marketing, what else is playing in theaters at the same time and a movie just coming out at the wrong time. Funny enough, Stephen King, who wrote the novella The Shawshank Redemption and is a public fan of Babylon, said he thought it would become a cult classic months after its release, calling it “utterly brilliant, extravagant, over the top, hilarious, thought-provoking.”
Not only does Babylon have an incredible cast, but it also has a captivating story to tell about Hollywood’s transition from silent films to “talkies” in the late 1920s. I know I missed the movie in theaters as well, and stopped myself from watching it for a while due to its 189-minute runtime. However, since watching it, I think about it often. The movie about moviemaking really changed my perspective on Hollywood, even though it made some strange choices.
It’s also one of Margot Robbie’s best movie roles ever. The actress certainly has a point, and she’s not the only one saying it either. Since it hit streaming, tons of people have been praising her Babylon performance, and the film has a passionate following of fans.
So, if you missed it like so many people, you can stream Babylon now with an Amazon Prime subscription.