The High Stakes of WB's One Battle

There will be PT Anderson.

The Punch Drunk Love director’s highly anticipated One Battle After Another, the action dark comedy political hybrid feature, has had the film community stirring.

With a budget of $115M, this is his most commercial yet riskiest film.

Leonardo DiCaprio channels a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood level of unhingedness as a Civil Rights activist opposite:

• Regina King (Ray)

• Teyana Taylor (The Book of Clarence)

• Sean Penn as a white supremacist named Lockjaw

Shot entirely on 35mm, the film is by far Anderson’s biggest budget. We saw the film, and it seems the surplus of money put in is very much echoed in its epic scale.

Despite being unanimously praised for the artistry of his films, PTA’s movies are not typically commercial successes.

His highest-grossing film, the Daniel Day-Lewis-led Western There Will Be Blood (2007), grossed $76M on a $25M budget.

His last film, which scored a Best Picture nomination. Licorice Pizza (2021) grossed $33 M on a $40M budget.

Warner Bros. is taking some amazingly bold and risky swings this year, empowering aueteur directors with major bucks hoping audiences will come out in full force for the filmmakers they love.

We love this thesis.

But, after a disappointing theatrical run for fellow WB director Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, grossing only $36M last month, this could be another financial risk by Warner Bros., given Anderson’s box office track record.

With such a huge cast and a more commercialized premise (in comparison to his previous work), if it can maintain the hype, it certainly has the potential to put up some big numbers.

One Battle After Another was recently pushed from an early August premiere date to September 26th.

Trailer: