One Battle After Another Release Date Revealed: Where to Stream and How to Watch

Paul Thomas Anderson making a new movie with Leonardo DiCaprio is one of those combos that just makes sense. The film is called One Battle After Another, the early reactions are glowing, and yes, awards talk is already happening. If you want the when, where, and what of it all, here we go.

The quick backdrop

Anderson has been doing this at an absurdly high level since he rolled out Hard Eight in 1996 at age 26. Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread… the list speaks for itself. He has a habit of teaming with heavy hitters too — think Julianne Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Daniel Day-Lewis, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman — and now he has DiCaprio in the mix for the first time.

Release date

One Battle After Another hits UK cinemas on Friday 26 September 2025. It was originally penciled in for 8 August — which would have put it head-to-head with hit horror title Weapons — but the date got bumped. The not-very-secret read on that move: late September is friendlier turf for awards season momentum.

How to watch it (and where the film-nerd stuff kicks in)

This one is getting an exclusive theatrical release out of the gate. And it is absolutely the kind of film you want to see big. Anderson shot it in the ultra-rare VistaVision format — the same large-format approach Brady Corbet used on The Brutalist last year. Inside baseball note: only four screens on the planet can actually project VistaVision as intended. One of them is the Odeon Leicester Square in London. If you can swing a trip there, that is the top-tier experience.

No worries if you cannot: the next best thing is 70mm IMAX, which you can get at the BFI IMAX in London. Beyond that, it will be in most major UK cinemas in standard formats, so you will have options.

Streaming-wise, it is too early for a date. Warner Bros typically waits and watches the box office before deciding. If the studio follows the playbook from its other big critical hit this year, Sinners, you are looking at roughly just under two months between theatrical and digital. Translation: rentals and purchases could land around mid-November. In the US, it will eventually end up on HBO Max, as most Warner Bros releases do. For UK streaming subscriptions specifically, nothing confirmed yet.

What it is about

The film is very loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, but Anderson has reworked it heavily and moved the action from the 1980s to right now. After a lengthy opening stretch set 16 years before the main story, we meet DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a paranoid, complacent single dad who gets yanked out of his off-grid rut when an old enemy reappears with plans that put his daughter in danger. It is a father-daughter story, but with Anderson’s restless, slippery vibe — and a dose of revolutionary past catching up to the present.

"Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa.

When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of their pasts."

The cast

First-time pairing: Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Surrounding them is a stacked lineup, plus a couple of cool surprises. Chase Infiniti makes her film debut after appearing in the Apple TV+ remake of Presumed Innocent, and there is a small role for Alana Haim, who led Anderson’s Licorice Pizza.

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson
• Sean Penn as Col Steven J Lockjaw
• Benicio del Toro as Sensei Sergio
• Regina Hall as Deandra
• Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills
• Chase Infiniti as Willa Ferguson
• Alana Haim as Mae West
• Wood Harris as Laredo
• Tony Goldwyn as Virgil Throckmorton
• Shayna McHayle as Junglepussy
• Starletta DuPois as Grandma Jennie
• D. W. Moffett as Bill Desmond
• Paul Grimstad as Howard Sommerville
• Kevin Tighe as Roy More
• Jim Downey as Sandy Irvine
• John Hoogenakker as Tim Smith
• Eric Schweig as Avanti
• Jena Malone as the voice of the greeting code

Early buzz and awards talk

The reception so far is about what you would expect from the Anderson/DiCaprio combo: ecstatic. The film is currently sitting at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a pile of five-star reviews. One outlet even went all the way and called it "the best film of the year." On the awards front, people are already talking like Anderson could finally snag his first Oscar, with DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Teyana Taylor all floated as contenders too.

Trailer

The trailer is out there now. It gives you a decent feel for the tone without tipping the whole thing — more a tease than a map.

One Battle After Another opens in UK cinemas on Friday 26 September 2025.