A New Direction for Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson has spent two decades building a reputation on slow‑burn drama, from Boogie Nights to Phantom Thread. Dropping that mold, his latest effort One Battle After Another jumps straight into the high‑octane world of action‑thrillers, a terrain he’s never officially explored. The story follows a former revolutionary, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who must outmaneuver a long‑standing foe to free his kidnapped teen daughter. With a supporting cast that includes Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, and Regina Hall, the film balances gritty personal stakes with spectacle.
The production chose the rare Vista Vision format, a widescreen process last popular in the early ’60s, to capture the film’s massive set pieces. Director of photography Michael Miller explained that the format “gives you a tactile sense of depth that digital can’t always replicate,” a claim that aligns with the decision to roll the movie out in IMAP for the first time in Anderson’s career. In interviews, DiCaprio emphasized that the visual ambition is tied to the commercial gamble: “If you’re going to make an action film that feels real, you need the right tools, and the box office numbers matter.”
Box Office Outlook and Awards Potential
Warner Bros. opened the film in 3,634 North American theatres on September 26, 2025, marking Anderson’s widest release ever. Early projections range from $18 million to $25 million for the domestic opening weekend, with an additional $20 million expected from overseas markets. Those figures would eclipse the director’s previous best‑opening, driven largely by DiCaprio’s star power and the novelty of an Anderson‑style action adventure.
The studio’s confidence isn’t blind. The movie earned a 98 % approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 95, signals that critics are responding as positively as fans. The consensus calls it “an epic screwball adventure teeming with awe‑inspiring action set pieces,” and notes that it may be Anderson’s most entertaining yet thematically rich work.
- Competing releases include “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie,” “The Strangers – Chapter 2,” and the continued dominance of “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” which has pulled in over $106 million domestically in recent weeks.
- Warner Bros. is hunting the $2 billion annual box‑office mark; its 2025 slate has already generated $1.76 billion across 12 titles, and a strong run for One Battle After Another could push the studio over the threshold.
- Early Oscar chatter places the film in the Best Picture conversation, with its September release timed to stay fresh in voters’ minds while still capitalising on the fall “awards season” window.
Beyond the numbers, the project raises a larger question about whether an auteur known for character studies can consistently deliver blockbuster thrills. If the film maintains its momentum through the holiday stretch, it may set a precedent for other directors who wish to bridge the gap between critical acclaim and mass‑market appeal.