{"id":458435,"date":"2025-09-28T17:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T17:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458435\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T17:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T17:55:10","slug":"one-battle-after-another-opens-to-21-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458435\/","title":{"rendered":"‘One Battle After Another’ Opens to $21 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDirector Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s comedic action thriller \u201cOne Battle After Another<\/a>\u201d topped box office charts in its debut, collecting $22.4 million from 3,634 North American theaters over the weekend. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an ex-revolutionary on the run, added another $26.1 million internationally for a global tally of $48.5 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tBox office experts are mixed on what to make of those initial results. A low $20 million debut is disappointing for a film that cost above $130 million to produce and another $70 million to market. And \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d certainly requires a huge turnout \u2014 roughly $300 million globally \u2014 to break even theatrically. That\u2019s because ticket sales are typically split 50-50 between studios and theater operators.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the R-rated film is original (and nearly three hours long) and doesn\u2019t enjoy the built-in audience that benefits franchise fare like \u201cSuperman\u201d or \u201cJurassic World: Rebirth.\u201d Building excitement (and getting people to buy a ticket) can take time. Moreover, Warner Bros. keeps defying box office expectations, generating hits of all shapes and sizes from the kid-centric \u201cA Minecraft Movie\u201d and \u201cSuperman\u201d to the not-so-family-friendly \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cWeapons\u201d and \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d since April.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis movie has a chance of getting to profitability if it lasts long enough in theaters and\/or overperforms abroad,\u201d says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. \u201cIt\u2019s going to get a lot\u00a0of awards nominations, but that\u2019s two to three months away and unlikely to help this immediate release.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPositive word-of-mouth is key to inspiring the level of staying power that\u2019ll be needed to justify the studio\u2019s sky-high expenses. In that regard, \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d has been rapturously received by audiences (scoring an \u201cA\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls) and critics (a 96% Rotten Tomatoes average), which should be a good sign for its theatrical run. Premium large formats like Imax, Dolby and VistaVision, which cost more than the average ticket, will also help bolster its earnings. Those larger-than-life screens contributed a massive 51% of the overall domestic tally, according to Warner Bros.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d will test DiCaprio\u2019s box office bankability. (Although Anderson, the director of \u201cBoogie Nights,\u201d \u201cMagnolia\u201d and \u201cThe Master,\u201d is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation, his movies aren\u2019t usually commercial draws. For context, Anderson\u2019s highest-grossing film is 2007\u2019s \u201cThere Will Be Blood,\u201d which earned $76.4 million globally.) DiCaprio, an A-lister who has proven his theatrical bona fides with \u201cTitanic,\u201d \u201cInception\u201d and \u201cThe Revenant,\u201d was most recently on screen in 2023\u2019s \u201cKillers of the Flower Moon.\u201d That film, directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starring Robert De Niro, opened to $23 million and ended its run with $68 million domestically and $158 million globally. <\/p>\n

\n\tWill \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d which opened below \u201cKillers of the Flower Moon,\u201d ultimately prove to be the more commercial offering? Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon\u2019s 1990 novel \u201cVineland,\u201d DiCaprio stars in \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d as Bob Ferguson, a washed-up revolutionary who\u2019s living off the grid with his daughter, Willa (newcomer Chase Infiniti), until an enemy (played by Sean Penn) resurfaces and threatens to split up the family. Initial ticket buyers were predominantly male (65%) and over the age of 25 (42%).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d loomed over two fellow new releases, Universal\u2019s kid-friendly \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse: The Movie\u201d and Lionsgate\u2019s R-rated slasher \u201cThe Strangers: Chapter 2.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d debuted in second place with $13.5 million from 3,500 North American theaters, squarely in line with projections. The G-rated film, based on the hit Netflix series aimed at pre-schoolers, earned a coveted \u201cA+\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls, which could extend its theatrical life. Universal spent $32 million on production costs. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Strangers: Chapter 2\u201d landed at No. 5 with a tepid $5.9 million from 2,650 theaters in its first weekend of release. That\u2019s far below the prior installment in the series, \u201cThe Strangers: Chapter 1.\u201d The first slasher reboot launched to $12 million in 2024 and ultimately earned $48 million globally. Although the sequel is unlikely to near those box office heights, the film cost just $8.5 million to produce.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s a relief for Lionsgate because reviews and word-of-mouth likely won\u2019t help the film stick around on the big screen. \u201cThe Strangers: Chapter 2\u201d was panned by audiences and critics, who saddled the movie with a \u201cC-\u201d grade on CinemaScore and a brutal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. Renny Harlin directed the follow-up, which brings back the masked maniacs at the center of the first installment. When they discover that one of their victims (Madelaine Petsch) is still alive, they return to finish the job.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cReviews are poor; that\u2019s not a big deal for horror,\u201d says Gross. \u201cBut the audience score is also weak, even for the genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSony\u2019s anime smash \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle\u201d and \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d rounded out the top five.<\/p>\n

\n\tA major sleeper hit, \u201cDemon Slayer\u201d has generated $118.1 million domestically after three weekends to stand as the biggest anime release ever in North America. And business has been even bigger overseas with $487.3 million for a monster global tally of $605.4 million.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cConjuring\u201d landed at the No. 4 spot with $6.9 million. The paranormal sequel is also breaking records with $161.5 million domestically and $435 million globally, by far the biggest installment in the long-running franchise.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, last weekend\u2019s new offerings, Universal\u2019s \u201cHim\u201d and Sony\u2019s \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey,\u201d collapsed in their second outings. \u201cHim,\u201d a sports thriller produced by Jordan Peele, collected $3.8 million, a painful 71% decline from its debut. Ticket sales stand at $20.9 million domestically and $21 million globally. \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey,\u201d a romantic drama starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell, tumbled all the way to 10th place with $1.2 million, plunging 63% from last weekend. So far, \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey\u201d has earned $5.8 million in North America and $8 million overseas against a $45 million budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Director Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s comedic action thriller \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d topped box office charts in its debut,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,150003,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-458435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-one-battle-after-another","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115283212636864028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}