Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood epic “Babylon” will open in theaters across the country on Dec. 23.
Paramount initially planned to debut the movie in select theaters on Dec. 25 before expanding it nationwide on Jan. 6. Sources close to “Babylon” suggest the earlier release date points to the studio’s confidence in the film, which carries a $78 million production budget.
The news comes the day after Sony amended release plans for “A Man Called Otto,” starring Tom Hanks, which was supposed to debut nationwide on Dec. 14 and will now open in select theaters on Dec. 25 before expanding nationwide on Jan. 13.
On its new nationwide release date, “Babylon” is playing on the big screen alongside “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” James Cameron’s highly-anticipated “Avatar” sequel, which opens on Dec. 16, is also expected to loom large at multiplexes during the holidays.
Set in the late 1920s, “Babylon” puts the spotlight on Brad Pitt, who plays a bonafide leading man and Margot Robbie, who portrays an up-and-coming starlet, against the backdrop of an entertainment business in flux.
Chazelle previously revealed that “Babylon” is inspired by films like Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” Robert Altman’s “Nashville” and “The Godfather” — “old-school epics that managed, through a handful of characters, to convey a society changing.”
Along with Robbie and Pitt, the buzzy cast includes Diego Calva, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Spike Jonze, Jean Smart, Flea, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li.
The star-studded “Babylon,” a homage to Hollywood’s silent era, captures “humanity at its most glamorous and animalistic,” the director teased at the Toronto Film Festival. But, Chazelle added, “it’s a mostly fictional film.”