Babylon Director Shot a Two-Hour Version, With a Catch

With most highly anticipated films, audiences wonder if there are extended director's cuts with more footage that didn't land in theaters, but in the case of Damien Chazelle's Babylon, the filmmaker revealed he actually made a shorter version of the story. The twist, though, is that this two-hour cut of the story was merely an iPhone recording of star Diego Calva and Chazelle's wife Olivia Hamilton rehearsing the entire story in the filmmaker's backyard. Though this was obviously a much more rudimentary version of the story, with the theatrical cut of Babylon exceeding three hours, it's possible that some viewers might prefer that shorter version.

"It's a very tight, two-hour version of the entire movie, [filmed] on an iPhone in our backyard," Chazelle shared during a Q&A for the film, per Entertainment Weekly. 

"We rehearsed the whole movie in his backyard, only Olivia, Damien, and I," Calva continued. "It was a very uncommon kind of situation."

The film is described, "From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood."

The film also stars P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, and Olivia Wilde. 

Babylon is Chazelle's most recent exploration of Hollywood history, with his 2016 film La La Land being a spiritual homage to the heyday of musicals. That film went on to earn critical acclaim and scored a number of awards, including six Oscars.

This new foray into Hollywood history is far more debaucherous, shining a light on the earlier days of the industry and a time when important figures seemingly embraced a more raucous lifestyle filled with drugs and sex. Despite the star power of Robbie and Pitt, however, the film hasn't made as big of a splash at the box office, which could be due to its run time and more abrasive subject matter.

Babylon is in theaters now.

Would you have liked to have seen a shorter cut of the film? Let us know in the comments!