Babel returned 5.4× its production cost, earning $135.3M against a $25.0M budget — one of the highest-return Japan films in our catalog.
Synopsis
“If You Want to be Understood… Listen.”
In Babel, a tragic incident involving an American couple in Morocco sparks a chain of events for four families in different countries throughout the world. In the struggle to overcome isolation, fear, and displacement, each character discovers that it is family that ultimately provides solace. In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couples frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. Separated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, each of these four disparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling towards a shared destiny of isolation and grief.
The 2005–2007 Japan Window
364 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Babel sits at position #127.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Babel. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
The 2000s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 2000s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Babel premiered. 1020 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 2h 23m runtime, production spent $175K per minute on screen and earned $946K per minute back.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,716 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (63rd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.3 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #742 of 1,933 (top 38%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | France, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, United States of America |
| Original Language | En |
| Spoken Languages | Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian |
| Production Companies | Babel Productions Inc., Paramount, Paramount Vantage, MRC, Anonymous Content |
| Runtime | 2h 23m |
| Release Date | September 8, 2006 |
| IMDb | tt0449467 |