You Won’t Guess Which Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg Movies Leonardo DiCaprio Loves Most

Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro just did the movie-nerd thing we all do: argued favorites. While out promoting Paul Thomas Anderson's new action drama 'One Battle After Another,' the two swapped picks for Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Stanley Kubrick movies during a chat with Collider. Spoiler: they went classic, and Leo dropped a great Cinerama Dome anecdote.

The setup

DiCaprio and del Toro co-star in PTA's 'One Battle After Another.' DiCaprio plays Bob, a dad trying to find his missing daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti), which inevitably puts him on a collision course with del Toro's character. The cast also includes Sean Penn, Regina Hall, and Teyana Taylor. The film hits theaters on September 26, 2025. For context, these two have receipts: DiCaprio in 'The Revenant,' del Toro in 'Traffic' and 'Sicario.'

Their favorites, rapid-fire

• Steven Spielberg: Del Toro did not hesitate: 'E.T.' DiCaprio wavered for a second, then landed where a lot of us do: 'Jaws.' He basically said there are too many Spielberg masterpieces to choose from, but yeah, it's 'Jaws.'
• Christopher Nolan: This one was unanimous. Both picked 'The Dark Knight.'
• Stanley Kubrick: Del Toro went straight to '2001: A Space Odyssey.' DiCaprio agreed and then started naming the inevitable runners-up: 'A Clockwork Orange,' 'The Shining,' and he mentioned he just rewatched 'Full Metal Jacket.' Del Toro tossed in 'Barry Lyndon.' DiCaprio called 'Barry Lyndon' incredible but kept '2001' as his top pick. Del Toro later pointed to 'Spartacus' and summed it up with the right answer no one wants to hear: 'all of them.'

The inside-baseball bit

DiCaprio got a little starry-eyed talking about '2001' and a special screening at the Cinerama Dome. This is the kind of detail film geeks live for:

'I remember watching it for the first time on VHS, but then I got to see it at the Cinerama Dome. Christopher Nolan found the original film and projected it at the Cinerama Dome with the original sound. Talk about a movie that was so ahead of its time. It is just incredible. Beyond the movie, it is kind of a spiritual experience.'

And del Toro, again, with the correct take:

'The correct answer for Kubrick is all of them.'

So there you go: 'E.T.' and 'Jaws' for Spielberg, 'The Dark Knight' for Nolan, and basically the entire Kubrick filmography with '2001' on top. 'One Battle After Another' arrives September 26, 2025.