Hollywood period pieces seem like they’re all the rage right now. Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is set to hit theaters later this month. But, it’s not the only Hollywood-based period story on the horizon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Damien Chazelle’s next film, Babylon, will also examine the history of movie-making.
Chazelle’s film will take things a little further back than Taratino’s though. Set in the 1920s, Babylon will track the industry’s shift from silent films to “talkies.” Emma Stone has been attached to the film as a lead but nothing’s been made official yet. If she does sign though, Stone would reportedly be portraying Clara Bow, a real-life actress, and sex-symbol who is considered Hollywood’s first “it” girl.
Chazelle is best known for directing the 2017 musical, La La Land which landed him the Best Directing Oscar that year. (He’s the youngest person to do so.) He seems to like the leads from that film as he worked with Gosling again on last year’s First Man and is poised to do the same with Stone on Babylon. Chazelle’s 2014 film, Whiplash also received acclaim upon release and, in my opinion, is his best film so far.
Babylon‘s rumored 180-page script and $80-$100 million budget suggests that may not be the case for long though.
