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Hollywood responds to falling interest in itself with a surplus of films about the glory of Hollywood.

Didn't he sort of do this with La La Land already? I found Last Man pretty bland and that wasn't even written by Chazzelle, who I still think is a good director but bad screenwriter who doesn't get human beings. But that's me. But I'm down for expensive auteur studio projects.

THR has more details:

Those in the know have described the Babylon script as being a whopping 180 pages long and the project as having a budget in the $80 million to $100 million range.

Details surrounding Babylon are scarce but the story is said to be set during Hollywood’s and the movie industry’s transition from silent films to talkies. The rise and fall of fictional and historical characters figure into the proceedings.

One of the characters featured is Clara Bow, the early sex symbol and box-office star, who was Hollywood’s first “it girl.” Chazelle's La La Land star Emma Stone has been loosely attached to portray the character but no formal deal has been made for her involvement at this stage.

Looking forward to hearing a jazz version of "Singin' in the Rain" performed by John Legend on the soundtrack

I don't know who here listens to her podcast, but if they don't get Karina Longworth to consult on the script, they've messed up from the start.

The few details we have of this sound very, uh, Kenneth Anger.

BigMack3000 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:47 pm I don't know who here listens to her podcast, but if they don't get Karina Longworth to consult on the script, they've messed up from the start.

Or Fritzi Kramer

Never Cursed wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:02 pm The few details we have of this sound very, uh, Kenneth Anger.

Certainly the working title is cribbed from Anger.

Why would Chazelle, a director with a knowledge of film so vast that it impressed David Bordwell, NEED to consult anyone to give this project legitimacy?

Whoa, when did I say it would lack legitimacy? He can't be expected to literally know all of every actor and director. I'm sure he'll be having many conversations with experts to get certain details down, and Longworth has spent the last 5 years wonderfully telling the stories of early hollywood. That's all.

Longworth recently broadcast a large series covering the inaccuracies and background of Anger's Hollywood Babylon books. If we make the leap from Chazelle's title and link it to Kenneth Anger's "histories," involving Karina Longworth in any capacity would serve as an informed supplement/rejoinder/source for such a project and would further legitimatize the movie. If Chazelle uses any of Longworth's research and neglects to credit her, he would thus de-legitimize any such film. If this project has nothing to do with any of the above, and is another Chazelle fantasia about LA, he can proceed unencumbered and also count me out of buying a ticket, which I'm sure will - no doubt in my mind - most definitely break his heart.

I have a suspicion that if Damien Chazelle was seeking some kind of 1920s Hollywood consultant, that he knows about Kevin Brownlow, Cari Beauchamp, Scott Eyman, Jeanine Basinger and the other hundreds and hundreds of film scholars more qualified than Karina Longworth to provide that function.

No one ever accused Anger's books of being trustworthy, she's hardly the first and indeed it seems comical that someone would feel compelled to exert energy towards what has always been considered an entertaining collection of half truths and libel. Just because she has a visible podcast doesn't mean she's the only one who can or should be considered knowledgeable on the topic

EDIT THANK YOU buskeat66, exactly

Cool. Who said she was the only one that can be considered? As Drewcifer said, she just finished a series that lines up with what this film might be about. That's why the connection was on my mind. Did not realize Karina Longworth was such a divisive figure on this board though, or that she would draw out such strong reactions. That is noted now. Anyway...

It's just like someone announcing a historical film and hoping Dan Carlin has been consulted

Comical that someone would feel compelled to exert energy towards a film scholar who seems to be a sore spot for a moderator with a shortlist of known podcasters.

THANK YOU BigMack3000, exactly

I never would have guessed that certain people could be more interested in some potential consultant than in the director, the writer, the cast, or the plot of an upcoming project.

BigMack3000 wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:10 pm Cool. Who said she was the only one that can be considered? As Drewcifer said, she just finished a series that lines up with what this film might be about. That's why the connection was on my mind. Did not realize Karina Longworth was such a divisive figure on this board though, or that she would draw out such strong reactions. That is noted now. Anyway...

Yeah, that Anger series was exhaustive and an impressive undertaking and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the initial post in my opinion - if Chazelle is looking to collaborate with historical researchers, he could do far worse than to even just listen to it. Of course, she's not the only one who has done that sort of work, but I'm not sure why that mere fact is enough to stoke such derision at the mere offhand suggestion that she'd be a knowledgeable resource for such a project.

Cremildo wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:24 pm I never would have guessed that certain people could be more interested in some potential consultant than in the director, the writer, the cast, or the plot of an upcoming project.

I’m very excited by this film. I opened the thread and saw a bad joke at its expense, a dead on arrival declaration, and people hoping a podcaster was involved in the creative process for an Oscar-winning director’s big budget film, so my attention was diverted elsewhere. Looking forward to Rev’s Weird Al parody of this post too (“I’m very Far Sided by this film” with a cartoon of cows below???)

I’m curious about reports this would take place in the transition between silents and talkies. With a title like Babylon, my immediate assumption would be it’s about the scandals of the era and the great ones are firmly in 1921-1923. We are, after all, well overdue for a great Arbuckle trial movie and the 100th anniversary is a scant two years away.

If Chazelle is as big a movie geek as reported I would hope he’d be more interested in that material than mining material The Artist covered just a few years ago. But who knows?


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If this is an Arbuckle trial movie that would be incredible. But I highly doubt it

Brad Pitt was on Marc Maron's podcast today and described this as being about the transition from silents to talkies, like buskeat mentions above. It's shooting this summer, and DiCaprio seemed surprised and delighted that Pitt is working on it, and interjected that it's a "great script" a few times with a little faraway disappointment in his voice.

He must have finally inked the deal (Pitt and Stone have not officially been confirmed yet), because he publicly said it was his next project for the first time on the red carpet last night as well