Why the Babylon flop may mark the end of Margot Robbie's career

Why Babylon could kill Margot Robbie
Why Babylon could kill Margot Robbie's career (Image via Paramount)

2022’s Margot Robbie starrer Babylon is dead on arrival, and it could surely end her entire career. There’s no denying that the actress is among the prettiest and most talented celebrities currently working in Hollywood. Unfortunately, for her, the last few years have been quite forgettable as she has starred in one hit movie after another.

The Wolf of Wall Street was her breakout role as it turned her into an A-lister. This was followed by the success of Focus and Suicide Squad, which allowed her to bag some other major roles in the hunt for an Oscar. However, that hunt certainly hasn’t gone her way as it has led to her major downfall.


Margot Robbie's continuous box-office flops might make her lose her status as a Hollywood A-lister

Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street (Image via Paramount)
Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street (Image via Paramount)

The Australian actress played a supporting role in The Wolf of Wall Street, but the film was primarily centered around Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. Robbie then found success in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was once again driven by DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. Following this, her casting as Harley Quinn proved to be a brilliant casting choice for DCEU.

Suicide Squad turned out to be a major success for Robbie, and a lot of credit for that goes to her performance as Harley Quinn. That success brought her many more roles in several films, including Bombshell, Amsterdam, and Babylon. However, all three of these movies have been massive failures at the box office.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (Image via DC)
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (Image via DC)

Between these movies, Margot Robbie also starred in Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad, which were supposed to be sure shot hits for her, but even those films turned into box office failures. Moreover, with James Gunn supposedly rebooting the DCEU, she has potentially lost her gig as Harley because Lady Gaga is playing the character in Joker 2

Meanwhile, Babylon was supposed to be a success for her as it packed a huge star cast along with her in the lead. Despite having a runtime of 3 hours 9 minutes, it garnered no interest coming out in competition with Avatar: The Way of Water. Having a production budget of over $80 million, it has only opened with $7 million on its first weekend. Suffice to say, there’s no way this film is making its money back.

Margot Robbie in Babylon (Image via Paramount)
Margot Robbie in Babylon (Image via Paramount)

Not just the fans but the critics have also trashed this film as it only received a Rotten Tomatoes score of 55%. With Quinn gone, Robbie would have been looking at the Pirates franchise to save her. However, according to her, even the Pirates of the Caribbean movie has been canceled.

In November 2022, Margot Robbie spoke to Vanity Fair about her intended Pirates movie with Disney. She said:

“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would’ve been really cool. But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
Margot Robbie in Pirates of the Caribbean (Image via Disney)
Margot Robbie in Pirates of the Caribbean (Image via Disney)

The film seems dead in troubled waters, but franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Collider that’s not entirely the case. He said:

“I think that that script will come forward at a certain point. We developed two different stories for ‘Pirates’ and the other one’s going forward first, so that’s what we’re working on, to try to get that one made.”

The next Pirates movie with her could bring out her A-game once more. However, right now, Robbie will be counting on her reputation as a Hollywood A-lister through Greta Grewig's Barbie movie.


Why Barbie needs to be a success?

Margot Robbie as Barbie (Image via Warner Bros. Discovery)
Margot Robbie as Barbie (Image via Warner Bros. Discovery)

Warner Bros. Discovery is betting a lot on Barbie, which is opening in direct competition with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Along with WB, Robbie would personally want Barbie to be a box-office success because she needs to prove that she can sell tickets. If that film fails and her Pirates movie never happens, she could practically lose her A-List status.

Back-to-back flops like Amsterdam and Babylon have turned out to be a two-punch combo attack on her career. If Barbie too fails after that, then all production houses would have to think twice before hiring her in another potential blockbuster movie.

She is also a big name to be completely out of work, even if Barbie fails. However, if that happens, then she’d probably have to go and star in a gritty mini-series and show that she is more than just "looks" and a "pretty face." For now, things don’t really look good for her.

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Edited by Priya Majumdar
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