Margot Robbie claims that she is still confused by the poor box office performance of one of her films.
Despite having an all-star cast and a huge budget, Damien Chazelle's drama Babylon didn't go well when it was released on January 23, 2023, in the UK.
Robbie admitted that she still “can't figure out” why people didn't enjoy it, but the 34-year-old is still hopeful it will become a cult classic.
The film made $15m (£11m) at the US box office and $63m (£49m) worldwide against a budget of $80m (£63m).
Robbie, who plays Nellie LaRoy in the film, spoke about it while on the Talking Pictures podcast: “I love it... I know I am biased because I am very close to the project, and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it.
“I wonder if, in 20 years, people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?’ Like, when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time and you’re like, ‘How is that possible?’”
Other key actors in Babylon include Brad Pitt, Tobey Maguire, Diego Calva, Jean Smart and Olivia Wilde.
It focuses on the rise and fall of a number of erratic characters who deal with “unbridled extravagance and wickedness” and is mostly about the revelry of early Hollywood.
According to Babylon's synopsis, the plot is loosely based on actual people, and it is a “tale of outright ambition and outrageous excess”.
Rotten Tomatoes, the American review-aggregation website for film and television, saw the film achieve a 57 per cent approval rating overall.
The movie was three hours and eight minutes, and many reviewers and filmgoers factored the length of the film when analysing its quality.
One viewer wrote: “I counted five people walking out; my patience was abused by this one.”
While another added: “Terrible. There was no story and its three-and-a-half hours long.”
A third said: “For all that is great and grand in its use of history, the film is long and you can feel it, a problem when making an epic.”
The Standard’s Charlotte O'Sullivan gave the film one star, stating that the actors are the “puppets of a director unclear about what he’s trying to say”.
However, not everyone thought badly of the film.
One viewer on Rotten Tomatoes said: “It may have been a box office failure, but all three hours are utilized perfectly and it never goes flat.”
Another viewer thinking along the same lines said: “This is an absolutely repugnant masterpiece. It is a romantic nightmare. It is bat-s*** crazy. And I loved every last second of it.”
