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Warner Bros.' latest collaboration between Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another, opened its earliest previews to an estimated $2.5 million — a strong start that puts the film in the same conversational lane as some of DiCaprio’s recent theatrical efforts.
Early numbers and what they mean
Thursday previews began as early as 2 PM across roughly 3,200 locations, and early reporting pegs the night at about $2.5M with room for upward movement as more ticket data comes in. That figure sits just under the preview night haul for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which posted $2.6M during its first Thursday evening and later grew into a $23.2M three-day — a notable benchmark given Killers rolled out during an era when cast promotion was limited by strikes.
One Battle After Another runs 2 hours and 41 minutes, markedly brisker than Scorsese’s marathon Flower Moon (3 hours, 26 minutes). The shorter runtime could translate to more daily showtimes and a faster cadence in theaters, a box-office-friendly trait that helps modern wide releases maximize revenue on opening weekends.
Comparisons, context, and critical pulse
Early audience reaction also looks favorable: the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is sitting around 87%, placing it above a number of DiCaprio fan favorites like The Revenant and Wolf of Wall Street, and edged slightly above Killers of the Flower Moon’s audience rating. Within Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmography, One Battle After Another is outperforming some recent entries in audience sentiment (Licorice Pizza stands lower) but still sits below the cult favorites Boogie Nights and Magnolia on aggregate platforms.
The preview performance is also modest compared with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which drew $5.8M from previews that started later in the day in 2019 and went on to a huge first weekend. But Tarantino’s film benefited from an early August release, star power in Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, and the momentum of a Cannes premiere — variables that don’t map directly onto Anderson’s more contained rollout.
Industry insight: budget, projections, and theatrical strategy
One Battle After Another carries a reported production budget in the $130M–$140M range. Early distributors’ models are placing the domestic opening weekend in the low $20M range — a number that would not be a blowout but would be respectable for a director-driven original in today’s market, particularly one that is not part of an established franchise.
Warner Bros. made the calculated decision to bypass the fall festival troika spotlight this season, opting instead to show the film as press returned from Toronto. That choice reflects a broader industry recalibration: studios are weighing festival gloss and early awards-season exposure against the risk of misfired early reviews and the complications of festival optics, as seen with last year’s Venice reaction to Joker: Folie a Deux.
If One Battle After Another holds well in word-of-mouth and benefits from steady ticket sales in city markets — as early city-by-city advance sales suggest — it could carve out a longer theatrical life. A win for this film would be counted by many as a win for original theatrical pictures in an era dominated by franchises and streaming-first strategies.
Behind the scenes and fan reaction
This release marks a notable pairing: Paul Thomas Anderson’s unique directorial voice with Leonardo DiCaprio’s box-office and awards-season cachet. The film also features strong supporting work (including Sean Penn), slick pacing, and a production design that critics have described as both muscular and meticulous. Early audiences have praised the film’s kinetic energy — viewers note that Anderson leans into action beats in ways that differ from his more languid, character-driven dramas.
Film critic Anna Kovacs offers a perspective: "Anderson and DiCaprio together create an electricity you feel in every frame. This is less a return to old formulas and more a reinvention of what a director-driven action film can be." Her view reflects a swell of early critical enthusiasm that balances stylistic admiration with practical box-office hopes.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
For Warner Bros., and for cinemas more generally, the stakes are about more than weekend tallies: studios are testing whether mid-budget-to-high-budget original films can still find an audience without the safety net of an entrenched IP or a massive marketing blitz. If One Battle After Another posts stronger holds than initial forecasts and benefits from robust audience scores, it will bolster the argument for greenlighting ambitious theatrical projects that prioritize cinematic experience over streaming-first releases.
The film’s opening will continue to be watched closely into the weekend and beyond. Early numbers are promising, and if momentum keeps building, One Battle After Another could become a headline example of how director-driven cinema still matters in a crowded market.
Concluding note: the preview figures don’t tell the whole story, but they do signal appetite — both for DiCaprio on the big screen and for original films that insist on theatrical life.
Source: deadline
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