The first reviews for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another are here, and critics are calling it another masterpiece from the auteur. As of writing, the RT rating for the movie stands at a whopping 98% from 53 reviews, and is currently in contention for the highest-rated feature outing of the year.
It has surpassed Boogie Nights to become the director’s highest-rated feature-length outing at the review aggregator, only behind PTA’s documentary, Junun, and the short musical, ANIMA, both of which boast a perfect rating.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is WB’s Biggest Gamble of the Year
Although the critical reception marks another major win for Warner Bros.’ auteurs-driven slate this year, the PTA movie has another hurdle to clear. The movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is by far the auteur’s biggest movie, which was reportedly made on a budget of $ 175M (via Variety).
As for why this is a risky outing, PTA, despite being one of the most revered filmmakers in the business, hasn’t exactly been a major draw when it comes to box-office returns. His highest-grossing feature release remains 2007’s There Will Be Blood, which earned $77M (via The Numbers).
While this number is impressive, when taking its modest $25M budget into account, for One Battle After Another, the threshold is much bigger. However, WB’s decision to back this movie has hardly been a surprise, as the execs, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, haven’t shied away from giving auteurs the reins, and to their credit, this has worked out for fans and the studio so far.
Considering it has been an excellent year at WB, both critically and financially, after a rocky start, the pressure on Paul Thomas Anderson’s biggest financial venture might not be as intense as it was at the start of 2025. And according to Bloomberg, WB was forecasting the movie it hit $180M domestically, much larger than There Will Be Blood, and with DiCaprio leading the charge, the projections might not be that far off.
Nevertheless, the movie will indeed face an uphill battle as it charges to the theatres later this month. Hopefully, it’ll replicate similar buzz commercially ahead of dominating the awards season.
Are you excited for One Battle After Another?
One Battle After Another hits theatres on September 26 (USA).