Margot Robbie in Early Talks to Replace Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’

Margot Robbie is in early talks to replace Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s period drama “Babylon” for Paramount, Variety has confirmed.

Stone exited the film, which would have reunited her with Chazelle after working together on “La La Land,” due to scheduling issues. She and Brad Pitt were attached to “Babylon” a year ago when Paramount landed the rights to the project, which will take place during the transition from silent films to talkies and feature a mix of real-life and fictional characters. The film has a Christmas Day 2021 release date planned.

“Babylon” will be produced by Olivia Hamilton, Matt Plouffe, Marc Platt and Tobey Maguire. In November 2019, the California Film Commission awarded the project a $17.5 million tax credit allocation for shooting the period drama in the Golden State. The commission estimated that “Babylon” will generate $83.4 million in “qualified spending” — defined as below-the-line wages to California workers and payments to in-state vendors — but the allocation was contingent on production beginning within 180 days.

Robbie received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in “Bombshell” earlier this year. She also received a best actress nod in 2018 for her portrayal of ice skater Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya.”

The star broke out in DC Comics’ “Suicide Squad” as Harley Quinn and reprised the character in “Birds of Prey” earlier this year. She starred opposite Pitt as Sharon Tate in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” She’ll be seen in James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” follow-up and starts production in January on the untitled David O. Russell film alongside Christian Bale and John David Washington.

Robbie is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Aran Michael Management. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.