Paramount has landed the worldwide rights to Damien Chazelle’s next feature, Babylon.
The studio has dated the film for December 25, 2021 limited release, and then wider play on January 7.
The release date puts in prime position for another awards season run for Chazelle, who won the 2016 Best Director Oscar for La La Land.
Paramount was competing with Lionsgate to land the distribution rights.
Emma Stone and Brad Pitt are in talks to star but sources add deals have not closed for either Stone or Pitt.
Plot details are vague, but “Babylon” is said take place during the transition from silent films to talkies and will feature a mix of real-life and fictional characters.
While the exact budget is still to be determined, sources have indicated Chazelle will be assembling an all-star ensemble to share the screen with Stone and Pitt.
Olivia Hamilton, Matt Plouffe, Tobey Maguire and Marc Platt are producing Babylon.
Adam Siegel and Helen Estabrook are exec-producing.
The project marks Chazelle’s first film since his Neil Armstrong movie First Man, starring Ryan Gosling, which was both artistically and commercially disappointing.
Most recently he has been working on the Netflix series “The Eddy.”