Paul Thomas Anderson conquers the box office for the first time with One Battle After Another
Fending off Gabby's Dollhouse and Dollface from The Strangers: Chapter 2, One Battle After Another led the box office with $22 million.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
As box office analysts wring their hands over whether Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders will see the returns necessary to push Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another into the black, audiences are simply enjoying the movie. Anderson’s Leonardo DiCaprio-led latest, a rollicking epic that fuses The Big Lebowski with Terminator 2, rode a wave of effusive reviews and festival hype to the shores of moviegoers. Those audiences rewarded the film with an estimated $22 million opening (per The Numbers), the largest of Anderson’s career by far. That’s not too hard considering Anderson’s movies typically do not open in 3,600 theaters. Usually, his films open in fewer than 10 theaters and roll out gradually. Still, it’s a milestone for the director who delivered a crowd-pleasing entertainment that audiences are, well, pleased with.
While the movie has a long way to go toward profitability, given its reported $130 million price tag (not to mention another $70 million in marketing, per Variety), it continues to bolster Warner Bros.’ turnaround this year. More than other studios, WB has made going to theaters an experience worth talking about, a trend they’re hoping One Battle will continue. From kids screaming, “Chicken jockey,” at Jack Black to Ryan Coogler’s video about Sinners‘ various aspect ratios, WB has driven engagement with its releases on multiple fronts, leading to seven number ones this year. One Battle follows in Sinners‘ mold, with prestige premium formats and heroes fighting white supremacy in all its forms. The multi-format release accounted for 51% of its domestic gross—not bad for a dead format like VistaVision.
