- Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has a full-length trailer, and it promises to be the most compelling role Leonardo DiCaprio has tackled since Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
- Adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, it follows the story of ex-revolutionary Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio) who must rescue his daughter after old enemies resurface.
- One Battle After Another release date: September 25th, 2025.
While they had all the key ingredients of a winner, between Don’t Look Up and Killers of the Flower Moon, the Academy Award-winning Leonardo DiCaprio’s recent filmic output has fallen quite… flat. At least in terms of the audience experience (the critic’s game is a totally different beast).
But now, under the creative guidance of a generational writing-directing talent Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood), he has the chance to flex his underrated comedic chops and course correct with One Battle After Another.
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Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland – marking the second occasion Anderson has adapted the author’s literary work after Inherent Vice starring Joaquin Phoenix – the story involves a bumbling and in-way-over-his-head ex-revolutionary named Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio).
When old enemies led by Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) resurface after 16 years and abduct Bob’s daughter, he must rally the French ’75 to rescue her.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn are joined by Benicio del Toro as “Sensei,” along with Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Wood Harris, Shayna McHayle, D.W. Moffett as Bill Desmond, and in her sophomore collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza star Alana Haim.
Industry watchers will know there’s a lot on the line for One Battle After Another.
Aside from its potential to clear the air for DiCaprio, it promises to have the biggest budget of any film in Anderson’s career – reportedly US$140 million. A sizable bet for studio hawks: considering the auteur’s most successful box office gross was US$76 million against a US$25 million budget for There Will Be Blood.
Suffice it to say, the world eagerly awaits this ambitious black comedy. In more ways than one.
One Battle After Another has been slated for a September 25th, 2025 release date – check out the trailer above.
