Leonardo DiCaprio believes that One Battle After Another‘s box office performance represents a “very important” for Hollywood. Releasing Sept. 26, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another follows DiCaprio’s former revolutionary who attempts to rescue his daughter after she’s kidnapped by an old enemy. Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, and Sean Penn also star.
One Battle After Another has been generating plenty of buzz, as the movie has a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and is seen as a major Oscar contender. The movie is also projected to have a solid box office opening, likely the best for any Paul Thomas Anderson movie to date.
However, in a chat with Variety, DiCaprio explained why he feels that the One Battle After Another box office performance holds a little more weight than usual.
“I mean, Paul shot this movie in Vista Vision – cameras that have rarely been used since the early ’60s. He wants people to have that immersive experience and make an action film that’s unexpected, tactile, realistic and something that is probably a lot different that what we’ve been saturated with. In that respect, box office is very important.”
DiCaprio added in the interview that One Battle After Another is “uniquely crafted and specialized” for the movie-going experience, and that he hopes “people go out to the theater and experience it the way it’s meant to be seen.”
DiCaprio is right that One Battle After Another is different from the usual studio fare that is released in movie theaters. This is an original story geared toward adults, not an IP-backed property or sequel that aims for the largest possible audience. Add in the fact the movie has the highest budget of any Anderson movie to date – an estimated $130 million on the low end, according to Variety – means that it will have to far exceed Anderson’s past highest-grossing movie – There Will Be Blood at $76 million worldwide – to turn a profit.
In its favor is DiCaprio’s star power, which helped his last two movies with revered autuers, Killers of the Flower Moon and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, pull in $150 million-plus at the box office (much more for Tarantino’s OUATIH). There’s also the premium formats that can help boost box office. While the movie will only be shown in Vista Vision in three movie theaters worldwide, One Battle After Another is being shown in 70mm and IMAX format as well where available.
Still, One Battle After Another is the latest attempt to prove that original movies primarily targeted at adults can be big hits at the box office, meaning its box office will be closely watched and evaluated.
Our Take On One Battle After Another Box Office Hopes
One Battle After Another has the chance to become the movie that everyone is talking about for the next few weeks. While fellow new release Gabby’s Dollhouse will be the family movie of choice, One Battle After Another has the chance to be the big movie in theaters for everyone else until Tron: Ares premieres on October 10.
While DiCaprio is making his pitch, movie fans can do their part as well, recommending that other people go see One Battle After Another in movie theaters, be it this weekend or over the coming weeks. That way, we will continue to get these different types of movies along with the superhero and family movies in theaters.
- Release Date
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September 26, 2025
- Runtime
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162 minutes
- Producers
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Adam Somner