The Babylon director shot a 2-hour version of the film on his iPhone, and now we’re wondering if a shorter version would have helped.

Damien Chazelle’s fiery commentary on Hollywood in the 1920s, Babylonstarted at a bad start at the box office , grossing just $3.5 million in its opening weekend in theaters despite having a wide release. As expected, Avatar: the path of water topped the charts as it continued its ascent to $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide. But a mixed reaction from the critical community and a lackluster promotional campaign likely contributed to the film’s slow start. Also, audiences may have been put off by the film’s length. Recording at 3 hours and 9 minutes, Babylon It seems like a daunting situation (although I’d argue that the story earns every minute of its running time and never fails to enthrall). And now that there’s news of a two-hour early release, we can’t help but wonder if this is what Paramount should have released.

This two-hour cut of Babylon This is the furthest thing from being official, notice. Damien Chazelle spoke about it during a pre-launch Q&A session in November (via weekly entertainment ), and said it was a full run-in for the film with only two actors: Diego Calva, who plays Manny Torres in the finished film; and Olivia Hamilton, wife of Chazelle (and actress in the film). Calva acknowledged during the Q&A that the process was “very unusual” for running a two-hour version of a longer story. And Chazelle added a few more details by saying:

how I like it Babylonespecially the fascinating ending Capturing the director’s unfiltered love of cinema, I can’t wait to see this two-hour action cut. First, I’m curious which scenes and footage that ultimately made it to the final film weren’t included in this backyard essay. Has been The Strange Journey of Tobey Maguire in the underground Los Angeles portion of the two-hour version? and how could The end of Babylon Did that change when Chazelle only gave herself two hours to tell that eponymous story?

Obviously Chazelle wasn’t about to let anyone see this haircut. Babylon. It was evidence filmed with an iPhone in her garden. And feature films change and evolve during production and editing. But I’m curious how Babylon It came to add another hour of story, from this filmed rehearsal to the stage cut.

And also, given the decline of the Babylon at the box office, I wonder how the two-hour version could have played. Our Eric Eisenberg, in his Babylon revision , said he thought the film started well but lacked the momentum to last. But this is Monday Morning Quarterbacking, a film that works incredibly well for me in its final form and I hope it finds its audience in time. Something tells me Paramount has been watching the movie stars they had in the cast , and assumed that star power would appeal to a wider audience. Or maybe he needed Tobey Maguire distribute alcohol for free in multiple screenings of the film?

Anyway, if Damien Chazelle is reading this, please include the two-hour backyard repeat in any Babylon 4K, because I will definitely buy it and would love to see the shorter version. For curiosity.