Photo Credit: Getty Images
Warner Bros. Is betting big this weekend with Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest epic, One Battle After Another. The $140 million film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is eyeing a $20–25 million domestic debut and another $25 million overseas, giving it the potential to hit a $50 million worldwide launch. Even on the lower end, the opening would represent Anderson’s strongest box office start ever, a remarkable shift for the filmmaker who has typically seen his work platform over time. To date, Anderson’s top U.S. weekend was 2009’s There Will Be Blood, which peaked at $4.8 million in its fifth week of release.
Everything about One Battle After Another signals ambition. Not only is it Anderson’s most expensive project to date, but it was also shot in VistaVision and deliberately bypassed the usual fall festival circuit to head straight into awards season. The gamble appears to be paying off, with critics delivering a 98% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and buzz placing the film firmly in the heart of Oscar season conversation. Warner Bros. Has positioned the film as a long-haul play, emphasizing both its cultural relevance and its star power.
At the center of it all is DiCaprio, whose track record of boosting auteur projects speaks for itself. From Scorsese and Tarantino to Iñárritu and Luhrmann, his collaborations tend to deliver strong openings. One Battle After Another is no exception, with the actor making a rare and high-profile promotional push that has included red carpet appearances, late-night interviews, and even a sit-down on the Kelce brothers’ podcast. The studio’s marketing campaign has been equally aggressive, with trailers featured during NFL broadcasts and on major tentpoles like Warner Bros.’ Superman.
The movie itself, running 2 hours and 41 minutes, is being described not as a slow burn but as an adrenaline rush. Its opening sequence at an ICE detention facility has been singled out as particularly urgent and unsettling, grounding the film’s anarchist-against-the-system narrative in contemporary politics. The story pits DiCaprio’s reluctant 1980s rabble-rouser against Sean Penn’s hardened military antagonist, blending Anderson’s signature artistry with an action-driven framework.
Internationally, the film is rolling out across 17,000 screens, with France expected to be a standout market, and later releases planned for Japan, Korea, and Turkey. Early signs are promising, with advance sales in U.S. cities already surpassing those for Killers of the Flower Moon.
Alongside Anderson’s drama, the weekend also brings Universal/DreamWorks’ Gabby’s Dollhouse, targeting a $13–15 million debut with family audiences, and Lionsgate’s Strangers: Chapter 2, which is expected to scare up $6–7 million. Still, the spotlight belongs to One Battle After Another. Whether it hits $50 million or lands just shy, the film is set to mark a new career high for Paul Thomas Anderson and likely his most commercially successful project to date.
