‘One Battle After Another’ Gives Paul Thomas Anderson Movies a Massive Streaming Boost

It looks like it’s one hit movie after another for Paul Thomas Anderson.

The acclaimed director returned to theaters on Friday with Warner Bros.’ big-budget “One Battle After Another,” a film already widely hailed as a masterpiece up there with the best of his career. And the auteur’s other movies are reaping the benefits, too.

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In exclusive data shared with TheWrap, JustWatch — an online platform that shows where movies and television series are available to stream — reported that interest for films across Anderson’s filmography saw a massive boost last month. While already-popular titles like “There Will Be Blood” and “Boogie Nights” gained more than 100% viewership interest in September, under-discussed PTA titles saw much higher leaps.

“Inherent Vice” got the biggest boost in September, increasing its streaming interest by 557% and ranking 11th on the U.S. streaming charts as of Sept. 30. “Licorice Pizza” — a 2021 release and the most recent Anderson film before “One Battle After Another” — trailed with a 361% increase, placing No. 30 on the charts. “Phantom Thread,” ranked at No. 24, saw a 316% leap, followed closely by Anderson’s first feature, “Hard Eight,” which is up 315%. “Boogie Nights” followed with 237% (ranking No. 37), while “The Master,” featured on a graph below, increased the least with a still-significant 98% bump.

Data provided by JustWatch

This streaming boost was steeper for some movies compared to others. While “There Will Be Blood” had the second-smallest jump at 123%, it remains the top PTA movie by streaming popularity, speaking to audiences’ lasting affection for the director’s 2007 feature. “Inherent Vice” — often seen as something of a black sheep among Anderson’s filmography that’s ranked at the bottom of many rankings of the director’s movies — impressively ranked No. 2 in streaming popularity as of Sept. 30. The least popular PTA movie was “Magnolia,” a film that, outside of the Criterion Channel, was not available without rental/purchase on any streaming service.

It’s no surprise that “One Battle After Another” is driving streaming numbers. PTA’s latest is one of the best-reviewed films of the year, currently carrying a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 95 on Metacritic, a 4.5 on Letterboxd and an A CinemaScore.

This reaction has a direct correlation to the data detailed by JustWatch. When looking at the chart provided, films really began to increase in popularity at two key points. The first massive spike is seen Sept. 18 — one day after the review embargo lifted and critical praise begin pouring in for the Leonardo DiCaprio-led project. The second increase began to occur immediately after the film released to the public on Sept. 26, with popularity on the chart continuing to rise over the next several days.

“There’s so much buzz around ‘One Battle After Another’ and its 11-time Oscar nominee director Paul Thomas Anderson,” said Christoph Hoyer, COO, CMO and Co-Founder at JustWatch. “The film’s theatrical success is driving fans to rewatch PTA classics like ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘There Will Be Blood,’ while discovering overlooked titles like ‘Hard Eight.’ The fastest-growing title on our list is ‘Inherent Vice,’ which is also based on a Thomas Pynchon novel, just like ‘One Battle After Another.’ This is a clear example of how theatrical and streaming feed each other.”

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