Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Box Office: The “Battle” Begins as Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn Stunner Has $8.8 Mil Opening, Heads to $20 Mil Weekend

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It’s going to be a long battle, but not an uphill battle.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” has begun its box office journey with $8.8 million.

Warner Bros. is looking at a $20 mil opening for the gushed over Leonardo DiCaprio-Sean Penn comic adventure.

It’s going to take a lot of nurturing to get “One Battle” through its first theatrical run. I’m sure there will be a second one in December when awards nominations come pouring in.

As the kids say, IFKYK, If you know you know. That’s what everyone will say in December when this movie is all anyone’s talking about.

Meantime, Jonny Greenwood has released his soundtrack on Spotify, and it’s also a guaranteed Oscar winner. What a gorgeous score!

After “Battle,” there are FIVE horror films on the box office list.

Also new this week is “Eleanor the Great,” directed by Scarlett Johansson and starring soon to be 96 year old June Squibb, who’s setting records of her own! God bless!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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