Paul Thomas Anderson is not the guy you usually pencil in for a four-quadrant smash, but his new one, 'One Battle After Another', is lining up the biggest opening of his career. It is also, for better or worse, the priciest thing he has ever made. So yeah, there is some real studio math happening here.
The numbers (so far)
According to Deadline, weekend projections point to about $21 million domestic and another $24 million from overseas markets, which would put the global debut around $45 million. The movie also pulled in $2.5 million from Thursday previews, which is a strong sign for an adult-skewing release like this.
Why the studio suits are smiling: that launch helps push Warner Bros. over the $4 billion mark at the worldwide box office for the year — the first studio to hit that milestone in 2025, and the first time WB has crossed it since 2019.
The caveat: this is Anderson’s most expensive film by a mile, with a budget hovering around $150 million. Opening big is great; holding in weeks two and three is what decides whether this actually breaks even.
What the movie is
Loosely riffing on ideas from Thomas Pynchon’s 'Vineland', Anderson casts Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, an ex-revolutionary who gets dragged back into the fight when a long-dormant enemy reappears and forces him to go after his missing daughter. It is a rescue mission wrapped in old ghosts and bad blood — classic PTA themes, just with a larger canvas.
Who is in it
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson
- Benicio del Toro
- Sean Penn
- Regina Hall
- Tayana Taylor
- Chase Infiniti
- Wood Harris
- Alana Haim
The early chatter
Reviews are hot. JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray straight-up calls it a masterpiece and says it is the kind of film with a long half-life in the conversation.
'It is the kind of movie people will still be talking about thirty years from now, long after many others from this era are forgotten.'
Beyond the big-picture praise, there is some very inside-baseball love for how it looks and sounds. Anderson and cinematographer Michael Bauman shot the film in a 1.55:1 VistaVision frame — the same format Alfred Hitchcock used on 'North by Northwest'. Translation: wide, detailed, and built to show off texture. The review argues it basically begs for 70mm or IMAX if you have that option.
The action is described as grounded rather than bombastic, with one interstate car chase singled out as a pulse-spiker. And yes, Jonny Greenwood is back on the score, which the review ranks among his best work with Anderson.
Bottom line
For a filmmaker who has never chased four-quadrant spectacle, 'One Battle After Another' is a swing — big stars, big budget, big format — and the opening looks legit. Whether the math works out depends on legs, but if the early reactions are any indication, Anderson may have made something that keeps people talking well past opening weekend.