One Battle After Another Projected To Lose $100M At The Box Office

Despite One Battle After Another getting award buzz, it’s also coming at the cost of Warner Bros.’s pockets.

According to studio executives with knowledge of economics who spoke with Variety, the Paul Thomas Anderson movie, described as his magnum opus, is expected to lose roughly $100 million at the box office. While One Battle After Another has already generated $140 million at the global box office, the R-rated comedy needs to make at least $300 million to break even.

The report details that Warner Bros. spent $130 million on its production and $70 million on promotional material. Additionally, Leonardo DiCaprio earns first-dollar gross for his movies, so he will receive a percentage of the movie’s profits before the remainder is used to recover the studio’s costs.

However, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. debunked these claims, saying: “Warner Bros. refutes Variety’s anonymous sources and their uninformed estimates. Films across the studio’s slate, including ‘One Battle After Another,’ have achieved financial reward in 2025 with more than $4 billion earned to date.”

Warner Bros. is the first and only studio this year to earn $4 billion. However, that addresses the box office revenue, but doesn’t address the profits. Despite One Battle After Another coming at a cost, this isn’t entirely bad news for Warner Bros. The studio has been celebrating huge box office successes for the last few months. This includes the studio experiencing a box office streak of seven straight films, passing $40 million in its debut weekend.

That streak ended with One Battle After Another in September, when it debuted at $21 million domestically. Nevertheless, it doesn’t appear that the box office loss will negatively impact the studio since the movie is being pushed for award consideration. This comes as the R-rated film has been called one of the best movies of 2025 and even a frontrunner for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

On the other hand, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group CEOs Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca recently re-upped their deals as a result of their business decisions, although the extent of their time is unspecified.

While that bargain has worked, Warner Bros. has several high-profile movies on the horizon and scheduled for the 2026 slate, including Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! The latter film, starring Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley, reportedly cost over $100 million.

Release Date

September 26, 2025

Runtime

162 minutes

Producers

Adam Somner