With a film slate consisting of tentpoles hoping to launch new franchises (A Minecraft Movie, Superman) and original works from writer-directors (Sinners, Weapons), this year was a crucial one for Warner Bros. Things got off to a rough start when Mickey 17 and The Alto Knights bombed at the box office, but then the studio’s fortunes changed in a big way. Starting with A Minecraft Movie in early April, seven consecutive WB releases earned $40+ million domestically in their opening weekends, setting a new record. Many were curious to see if Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed One Battle After Another could continue that streak. Not only did it fall short, the studio is set to take a big loss on the project.
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According to Variety, One Battle After Another is projected to lose $100 million. The film’s break even point is about $300 million due to its sizable production budget of $130 million and another $70 million that went to the marketing campaign. WB also has to split grosses with theater owners (usually 50-50), and it’s noted that star Leonardo DiCaprio “typically gets first-dollar gross on his movies,” so he’s probably set to get a cut of the ticket sales as well. WB issued a statement in response to the Variety report.
“Warner Bros. refutes Variety’s anonymous sources and their uninformed estimates. Films across the studio’s slate, including One Battle After Another, have achieved financial reward in 2025 with more than $4 billion earned to date,” it reads. As a point of clarification, Variety notes that $4 billion figure “refers to box office revenue, not profits.”
One Battle After Another Box Office Explained
Prior to One Battle After Another, WB’s 2025 releases routinely exceeded box office expectations and performed better than anticipated. Sinners and Weapons rode their enthusiastic reviews to strong debuts. A Minecraft Movie broke records and is still the highest-grossing film of the year domestically as of this writing. The trend of WB surpassing projections ended with One Battle After Another, which grossed $22 million domestically in its opening weekend. That’s a career-high for Anderson, but the figure is very modest when compared to WB’s other films this year. One Battle After Another performed in line with its initial projections.
Similar to how Superman reportedly didn’t turn a profit from box office grosses alone, it’s important to keep in mind ticket sales are just one way for a film to make money. As an R-rated drama about political revolution, One Battle After Another obviously doesn’t have the same merchandising potential as a family-friendly blockbuster like Superman or A Minecraft Movie, but there are still other means available to WB. Shortly after its premiere, One Battle After Another became a frontrunner in the Oscar race, and WB is planning a big awards campaign. Securing key nominations in major categories like Best Picture and Best Actor will go a long way in making the film a draw on home media markets. WB intends to keep One Battle After Another in theaters as long as possible, but as the awards race heats up, there’ll be interest in PVOD rentals, for instance.
Even the Variety report recognizes One Battle After Another‘s awards potential means it’s “valuable to the company in ways beyond the balance sheet.” The film industry is a business and no studio wants to lose $100 million on a project, but every movie is different. If Superman or A Minecraft Movie lost $100 million, it would have been a disastrous result. WB can stomach any box office losses on One Battle After Another if it ends up being as strong of a player on the awards circuit as expected. The prestige of being the home of the latest Best Picture winner has a lot of value. It also doesn’t hurt that WB’s box office success over the course of the year means there wasn’t as much riding on One Battle After Another to salvage 2025 from a commercial perspective.
One Battle After Another has been hailed as one of the best films of the decade, so it could have a lot of staying power beyond this year and this Oscar race. If it has the enduring legacy so many people believe it will, WB could make money off of it for years to come through various physical media releases, theatrical re-releases, and streaming rights. It would have been nice if One Battle After Another soared past the box office projections and became another record-breaking hit, but it can still go down as a winner for the studio.
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