Damien Chazelle is afraid of not being able to finance his new film after the failure of Babylon

At the time of the release of Babylon, Damien Chazelle said he was happy that the film divided critics and the public. “It's good to have something that stimulates conversation, that creates debate with strong opinions on each side“, affirmed the director. But more than a debate, Babylon sparked rejection from spectators. Particularly in the United States, where it only collected 15 million dollars for a budget of 80 million.

A year later, Chazelle is working on a new film and the flop label sticks to it. Babylon no longer amuses him at all. As he told TCM's “Talking Pictures” podcast (listen below), he's even worried about not finding financing for his project.

Damien Chazelle defends the controversial editing of Babylon: “It was the only possible ending”

“It is certain that from a financial point of view, Babylon did not work at all“, recognizes Chazelle. “We try not to let it affect us creatively, but, to a certain extent, it can have a negative impact. But maybe it doesn't matter? I'm really divided on this question. Who knows. Maybe I won't be able to make this film. I do not know. We'll see how it goes.”

Everything moves very quickly in Hollywood. In 2017, Damien Chazelle, at age 32, became the youngest filmmaker in history to win the Oscar for Best Director with La La Land. Two failures later (First Man, released in 2018, is also considered a flop), he wonders if the industry is still ready to trust him. Chazelle knows in any case that this time he will have a smaller budget.

“My head is on the handlebars. I've been very busy writing. So I'll really know if things have changed once I finish the script and pitch it to studios. I feel a lot of apprehension, but I have no illusions. I won't have a budget the size of Babylon anytime soon, at least not with this film.“

We do not know more about this project in question, Damien Chazelle having given no indication on the nature of the film. At the end of December, he signed a “First Look Deal” with Paramount Pictures, at the time of the release of Babylonand the studio will therefore have the first look at the script.