Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” is a huge disaster at the box office. We knew this was coming some time ago.

The three hour catastrophe starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie cost $250 million and made less than $5 million over the holiday weekend. Paramount will take a write down for the total amount and life will go on.

I’m seeing all kinds of panicky upset notices about this on Twitter. You know, the movie biz is full of these failures, and there will be more. That’s the way it goes.

Back in 1960, “Cleopatra” with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton came raining down on its studio. It was the “biggest failure of all time.” Everyone lived.

In 1973, I remember as a teen reading about Ross Hunter’s “Lost Horizon,” which nearly toppled Columbia Pictures.

Then there was “Heaven’s Gate,” which sent United Artists into a frenzy. Coming so soon after Watergate, the word “gate” got added onto anything that was a scandal or a massive failure.

Let’s not forget “Ishtar,” Elaine May’s “passion project,” derided and dismissed just like “Babylon.” Some people went to see it just to see where the money was misspent. And on sand dunes, no less!

There are several dozen more examples of Babylonian disasters. The average loss is $100 million, for movies like Kevin Costner’s “The Postman” and even Steven Spielberg’s “The BFG.” We don’t know what “Amsterdam” lost this year. How about Will Smith’s “After Earth.” John Travolta’s “Battlefield Earth”? Remember “John Carter” and “The Lone Ranger”? We’ve been here before: Francis Ford Coppola’s “One from the Heart” comes to mind. Al Pacino in “Bobby Deerfield.” And so on.

“Babylon” may be the the biggest loss ever at $250 million. But believe me, there’s something out there, it hasn’t been made yet, which will top it one day.

What was the problem here? Too many characters and no one to root for. Margot Robbie’s Nellie looked like a Studio 54 crasher and was played like she was Harley Quinn. The rest of the characters were deeply negative. And the orgy scenes– no one at Paramount saw them in dailies and said ‘no’? No one?

So “Babylon” will go into the history books and we will shake our heads. It’s too bad– we really needed both “Babylon” and “Amsterdam” in this very mediocre season.

Will Smith went on quite a bender of media last month and early this one. He went around not apologizing for anything and trying to get people to watch his $100 million movie, “Emancipation.”

It didn’t work.

The Antoine Fuqua directed black and white movie (literally) about a tragic true story of a Civil War era slave has been a bust.

On Rotten Tomatoes, critics slammed it, with a 45% rotten rating. But even worse, audiences posting to Rotten Tomatoes gave “Emancipation” a lowly 56%. No one liked it.

“Emancipation” is playing on Apple TV Plus now, long gone from theaters after its one week eligibility run. Eligible for what, one might ask? Awards groups have ignored it, and the movie will just fall into ignominy. How much is the write off? Apple will never say, but the whole thing was a disaster.

Was the film rejected solely because of Smith’s egregious behavior last spring at the Oscars? No. It was also because the movie just wasn’t good. But the reaction to it was definitely a signal that no one is willing to forgive and forget any time soon.

MONDAY MORNING: Disney now says the weekend came to $64 mil after a late Sunday surge.

SUNDAY NIGHT: I know $56 million sounds like a lot. But Disney and other box office prognosticators were hoping for a $65 million second weekend for “Avatar 2.” They fell short by $9 million, down 58% from last weekend.

Was the weather to blame? I’d say it was a factor.

Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” was an expected bomb. Paramount will be writing off $100 million or more from this disaster. What’s the problem with “Babylon”? Excess. Upon excess. This could have been “L.A. Confidential” if it had a plot and a point. Instead, it was “Heaven’s Gate” meets “Ishtar.” I’d love to see a clever editor carve a movie out of that thing.

But Chazelle seems obsessed with “Singing in the Rain,” even though that movie is many years after “Babylon” occurs. I’d get rid of the orgies, they seem ridiculous and don’t add to the action. (Maybe there should be a short film of “Babylon” orgy outtakes.)

Margot Robbie exudes star power, but she looks all wrong in this film. She’s made up and dressed for a “Studio 54” film. The real key to “Babylon” is the central scene between Brad Pitt and Jean Smart.

What could “Babylon” have been? Just watch Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” I did again last night. It’s brilliant, holds up better than ever, and should have won Best Picture.

We are closing out a very mediocre year in film. Up next is Tom Hanks in “A Man Called Otto.” I say, Notto.