What separates the movie stars of today from the movie stars of yesteryear? Not much — at least in the upcoming film from Oscar winner Damien Chazelle.
Babylon will be the director’s first feature since 2018’s First Man, and instead of replicating Neil Armstrong’s race to the moon, Babylon will recreate the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1920s.
The story’s classic Tinseltown stars will be played by modern-day talent like Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, whom you can see in their full splendor in the new first-look photos below.
Paramount Pictures Margot Robbie in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Brad Pitt and Diego Calva play hard-partying movie stars in ‘Babylon.’
Paramount Pictures Tobey Maguire plays James McKay in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is carried aloft during a big-scale Hollywood production in ‘Babylon.’
Paramount Pictures Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) is a Hollywood veteran in ‘Babylon.’
Pitt and Robbie are playing fictionalized characters who are amalgamations of historical figures. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Chazelle says Pitt’s hard-partying Jack Conrad is inspired by the likes of John Gilbert, Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks, while Robbie’s aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy is based on big-screen icons like Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, Joan Crawford, and Alma Rubens.
“Part of what was magical about working with them in these roles is that each of them felt like they were really able to make the performance the most personal thing they had done,” Chazelle said of Pitt and Robbie, who previously depicted Hollywood figures of an earlier era in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Babylon also stars newcomer Diego Calva as Manny Torres, a Mexican actor and Hollywood outsider who is meant to represent the audience’s viewpoint.
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Manny Torres (Diego Calva) is a Mexican actor excited to make it to Hollywood in ‘Babylon.’
Paramount Pictures Li Jun Li plays Lady Fay Zhu in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Manny Torres (Diego Calva) speaks with Elinor St. John (Jean Smart) in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Jovan Adepo plays Sidney Palmer in ‘Babylon.’
Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Damien Chazelle on set directing his new movie ‘Babylon.’
As you can see in the photos above, the Babylon supporting cast also includes Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Jean Smart, and Tobey Maguire (when Maguire was first cast last year, the role seemed to mark his return to the screen after a prolonged absence from movies — but that was before the surprise of Spider-Man: No Way Home).
Babylon is set to hit theaters this December. Check out the first-look photos above.
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
Related content:
