Just to recap: Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” was originally slated to open in select theaters on Dec. 25 before expanding nationwide on January 6th. Today, Paramount changed that date and “Babylon” will instead be released nationwide on December 23rd.

An interesting excerpt from the Deadline article, reiterating my belief that Margot Robbie’s performance is the real deal (unless the Deadline writer just read it here):

Word is Robbie is amazing in the movie and could very well hook awards season buzz, in addition to Pitt .. Robbie was previously nominated in Supporting for “Bombshell” and Lead Actress for “I, Tonya”.

This release date change springs of confidence. “Babylon” is currently set to open just a week before “Avatar: The Way of Water” is released. Oddly enough, this is the same date “Glass Onion” will be available to stream on Netflix.

For the week leading into Christmas, there are four wide releases to keep an eye on: “Women Talking”, “Babylon”, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “Puss in Boots 2.”

“Babylon” cost $110 million to make. It is considered by many to be the last major Oscar contender left to be screen, but I digress. We need to at least ponder other late-year films into the conversation such as “Emancipation,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “A Man Called Otto.”