Stephen King Loved Babylon, Seems To Think Margot Robbies Movie Will Be A Cult Classic
Four years after the release of The First Man, director Damien Chazelle returned to the stage of Babylon , an exploration of the transition from silent to sound in the late 1920s. However, unlike the aforementioned Ryan Gosling film and Chazelle's other previous films Obsession and La La Land, Babylon, starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, received mixed reviews. More than six months after its release, however, it has gained a new fan in writer Stephen King, who believes the film will become a cult classic.
King often shares his thoughts on the films and TV shows he watches on social media, including in a From post in June. Upon seeing Babylon Now, whether streaming it on Paramount+ or buying/renting it, the award-winning writer for IT , The Stand and Cujo tweeted the following in late 2022:
Maybe it's more about me than the movie, but I think BABYLON was just great; crazy, over the top, complicated fun! Maybe one of those films that gets bad reviews and is considered a classic 20 years later.
That's high praise from Stephen King, and to be honest, he's not alone in this. Rather than being an outright critical disaster, Babylon has its fair share of fans and detractors, sitting among the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and boasting a 52% audience rating. Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend gave the film 3 out of 5 stars in his review, saying it was "destined to be divisive". King, on the other hand, was very impressed with Babylon , although it would be many years before he knew if his prediction that it would become a cult classic would come true.
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If Babylon gets a warmer reception in the coming decades, it will be in good company with films like The Thing , Big Trouble in Little China , and even 2001. Space Odyssey . However, while not everyone liked it, Babylon managed to win quite a few awards, as well as many positive reviews, including winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Score and receiving four other nominations. Conversely, it was not a box office hit, earning only $63.3 million on a $78-80 million budget.
If you'd like more Babylon- related content, read our thoughts on Tobey Maguire's "Wild Tale" or find out how Damien Chazelle filmed a two-hour cut of the movie on his iPhone. If you prefer to look to the future, our 2023 release schedule shows you what films are yet to be released this year.
