Paul Thomas Anderson conquers the box office for the first time with One Battle After Another

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.

One Battle faced two new releases this weekend: Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, which collected $13.7 million, and The Strangers: Chapter 2, which didn’t. Based on the animated children’s show, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie follows series star Laila Lockhart Kraner as she rescues her magical dollhouse from an evil cat lady (Kristen Wiig). Dollhouse came in at number two for the weekend with an A+ Cinemascore, besting The Strangers (number five), the Renny Harlin-directed follow-up to his 2024 reboot. Chapter 2 picks up where the last left off, with a traumatized Madelaine Petsch surviving another meet-up with the three masked killers.

Number three this week, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, collected another $7 million for a total domestic gross of $118 million. Demon Slayer‘s global take is now more than $605 million, earning more than Fantastic Four and closing in on Superman. Between Demon Slayer and Minecraft, the next generation of moviegoers is giving studios some direction. However, coming in at number four with $6.8 million, The Conjuring: Last Rites gives them just as much reason to keep doing what they’re doing.

Elsewhere in the top 10, Him and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey continue to collapse. Big Bold Beautiful Journey barely squeaked past a re-release of Spider-Man 2, which rounded out the top 10. Other new releases, including Dead of Winter and the Scarlett Johansson-directed Eleanor The Great, opened outside the top 10. It’s a wild month for Sony, which released Demon Slayer, Beautiful Journey, Eleanor, and Spider-Man 2. The studio must be thanking the movie gods for anime.

Here’s the full top 10: