{"id":259251,"date":"2025-09-27T17:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T17:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/259251\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T17:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T17:13:10","slug":"one-battle-after-another-takes-8-8-million-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/259251\/","title":{"rendered":"‘One Battle After Another’ Takes $8.8 Million Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWarner Bros.<\/a>\u2018 \u201cOne Battle After Another<\/a>\u201d took $8.8 million across Friday and previews from 3,634 locations in North America. That haul includes grosses from advance fan-first screenings on Tuesday, which played premium large-format auditoriums. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe studio didn\u2019t pinch on pennies for Paul Thomas Anderson<\/a> and Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a>\u2018s hyper-contemporary action epic, spending more than $130 million before a global marketing campaign. To the director\u2019s credit, Anderson delivered the goods. \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d already has the stature of a modern classic among critics, instantly positioning itself as an awards season heavyweight. On top of that, it\u2019s playing like a crowdpleaser, with moviegoer survey firm CinemaScore polling a superb \u201cA\u201d grade. Compare that the \u201cC\u201d grade that Anderson\u2019s now beloved \u201cBoogie Nights\u201d was dealt in 1997. It\u2019s also DiCaprio\u2019s highest score from the service since \u201cTitanic\u201d landed an \u201cA+\u201d in that same year.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll that prestige hype matches the film\u2019s uniquely ornate theatrical rollout, which includes Imax and other premium large-formats. There are also showings on 70mm, Imax 70mm and even four venues projecting in the long-dormant format VistaVision, which Anderson shot the film on. Each of those options comes with luxury ticket prices, boosting grosses.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now, \u201cOne Battle\u201d is on pace to land within pre-weekend tracking for an opening between $20 million and $25 million. Best case is glowing reviews and great buzz buoy the film\u2019s relevance among moviegoers for one week after another. But with a light debut, \u201cOne Battle\u201d has to string together a word-of-mouth phenomenon, plus a significant overseas draw, to turn a profit in theaters.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt least it won\u2019t take much for the film to finish as the biggest theatrical release ever for Anderson, who showed awareness with a crack about being \u201cbox-office challenged\u201d in an August interview at Esquire<\/a>. The writer-director\u2019s top hit ever is his 2007 critical darling \u201cThere Will Be Blood,\u201d which finished with $40 million domestic and $76 million worldwide. For Warner Bros., the studio is coming off seven consecutive films opening above $40 million domestic \u2014 a historic first in Hollywood<\/a>. \u201cOne Battle\u201d comes as a box office heat check, with significant costs.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a true contrast of counter-programming, Universal is opening the G-rated \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse: The Movie\u201d in 3,500 locations, eyeing a second place debut after earning $4.3 million across Friday and previews. Projections are now at a $13.6 million opening, landing between pre-weekend tracking for $12 million to $15 million. The DreamWorks Animation production is looking for a theatrical hit in adapting the popular animated pre-K Netflix series \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse,\u201d which has racked up 11 seasons since debuting in 2021. The big-screen version, which blends live-action and animation elements, cost $32 million to produce. It\u2019ll want to stick around in theaters, though it\u2019s playing great for its audience, with an \u201cA+\u201d grade from CinemaScore.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso opening this weekend, Lionsgate is bowing \u201cThe Strangers: Chapter II,\u201d the middle entry in what is supposed to be a contained, Renny Harlin-directed trilogy for the horror property. The home invasion continuation earned $2.4 million across Friday and previews from 2,690 locations, with projections for the three-day opening now around $5.6 million. That\u2019d be less than half of the $11.8 million debut that \u201cThe Strangers: Chapter I\u201d earned back in May 2024. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe first installment wasn\u2019t a hit with critics and reviews are just as bad for the follow-up, even after a producer told ScreenRant<\/a> that the sequel did significant \u201cenhancement\u201d reshoots after the release of \u201cChapter I.\u201d Audiences aren\u2019t impressed either, with Cinema Score turning in a rough \u201cC-\u201d grade. Still, the film cost a light $8.5 million to produce. Lionsgate has plans to release \u201cChapter III\u201d sometime down the line.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter topping domestic charts for two weekends, Sony and Crunchyroll\u2019s \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle\u201d is sliding to third place after earning another $1.8 million on Friday. It\u2019s looking at a $6.8 million third weekend, down 61%. These grosses are largely a cherry on top for \u201cInfinity Castle\u201d after its historic fan-driven opening weekend. The epic-length film is looking to hit a $117.8 million domestic total through Sunday, currently ranking as the 15th-highest grossing North American release of 2025 \u2014 a stature that seemed unthinkable for an anime film for decades.<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. is also vying for bronze, with \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites,\u201d which cast out <\/strong>another $2 million on Friday, down 46% from its daily total a week ago. The New Line horror sequel looks to hit $161 million through its fourth weekend of release \u2014 a terrific result against its $55 million price tag. While \u201cLast Rites\u201d marketed itself as the final chapter for paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, it\u2019s difficult to imagine the property is finished after delivering its biggest theatrical hit ever.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso of note, Universal\u2019s football horror film \u201cHim\u201d is losing a lot of ground in its sophomore outing, plummeting hard with a projected 71% drop after bad reviews. It looks to hit a $20.9 million domestic total through its second weekend \u2014 a less-than-desirable result against a $27 million production budget. Sony\u2019s \u201cA Big Bold Beautiful Journey\u201d is fading fast too, eyeing a $1.2 million sophomore outing after cratering in its opening. The projected 10-day domestic haul is $5.9 million for the $45 million project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warner Bros.\u2018 \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d took $8.8 million across Friday and previews from 3,634 locations in North…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":259252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[171,13618,53,59477,116180,67,132,68,1021],"class_list":{"0":"post-259251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-leonardo-dicaprio","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-one-battle-after-another","12":"tag-paul-thomas-anderson","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-warner-bros"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115277385522954848","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}