UPDATED, 7:52 AM: Warner Bros is reporting $3.1M this morning for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s $130M-$140M pic One Battle After Another. That number is higher than the previews for Leonardo DiCaprio movies Killers of the Flower Moon, which opened during the actors strike sans cast promotion, but also The Revenant, which posted $2.3M in previews before its wide break in January 2016 during its second weekend (after its NY/LA opening on Christmas Day).

Speaking of very expensive original movies with DiCaprio, he’s certainly been here before with The Revenant, and that opened to $39.8M (granted after 14 days of limited play which say $1.5M). Revenant before all the Oscars with its gloomy western wilderness setting was a hold-your-breath-moment for 20th Century Fox and New Regency executives before being nominated for 12 Oscars and winning three, one of which is DiCaprio’s sole golden guy trophy.

By the way, here’s DiCaprio’s top five openers at the domestic B.O.:

Now doing more in its first Thursday than One Battle After Another is the Sujeeth and Ashwin Neal Mani Indian gangster film, They Call Him OG which grossed an estimated $3.77M at 800 locations. Pic stars Pawan Kalyan as Mumbai mob boss Ojas Gambheera who resurfaces after vanishing in the city’s underworld with a mission to take out his rival crime lords.

Universal and DreamWorks feature take of Netflix series, Gabby’s Dollhouse, saw $700K yesterday from showtimes that began at 2PM in 2,650 locations. That number is on par to the previews of Sony’s Harold and the Purple Crayon which did $725K and opened to $6M. Eeeeek. Uni was expecting a number in the low-to-mid teens for this G-rated preschool IP. Net production cost for this Kristen Wiig, Gloria Estefan and Laila Lockhart Kraner movie is $32M before P&A. Gabby’s is a DreamWorks Animation production for Netflix. Gabby‘s 77% fresh with critics.

Lionsgate’s The Strangers – Chapter 2 grossed $630K from last night’s preview shows. The movie opens today in 2,690 theatres in what’s expected to be a $6M-$7M take. That preview number is half of what Strangers – Chapter 1 did back in May 2024, which was $1.2M. That first Renny Harlin directed, Madelaine Petsch starring horror pic opened to $11.8M. This one is expected to land in the mid single digits. Critics weren’t a fan of the last movie at 21% Rotten, and they aren’t fans of the sequel at 18%. Chapter 1 received a C CinemaScore.

Week’s top 5:

1.) Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Sony) 4,607 theaters, Wk $23.6M (-73%), Total $111M/Wk 2

2.) Him (Uni) 3,168 theaters, Wk $17M/Wk 1

3.) Conjuring: Last Rites (NL/WB) 3,413 theaters, Wk $16.3M (-54%), Total $154.5M/Wk 3

4.) Downton Abbey: Grand Finale (Foc) 3,711 theaters, Wk $10.2M (-60%), Total $35.6M/Wk 2

5.) The Long Walk (LG) 2,845 theaters, Wk $9M (-45%), Total $25.4M/Wk 2

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros’ original Leonardo DiCaprio movie from Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another, is posting previews around $2.5M with potential for upside according to sources.

We keep hearing that advance tickets sales in cities continues to grow.

Tonight’s estimated figure isn’t far from the preview night of DiCaprio’s last movie, Apple Original Films’ Killers of the Flower Moon, which posted $2.6M on its first Thursday evening, turning into a $9.4M Friday and 3-day of $23.2M. Now that was during the 2023 strikes when the cast couldn’t promote, not to mention that Martin Scorsese directed feature take of the bestselling novel was 3 hours and 26 minutes long. One Battle After Another is considerably shorter at 2 hours and 41 minutes (and, man, does it move at a clip).

Now, Thursday previews for One Battle After Another, which started at 2PM today in 3,200 locations are under that of Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 DiCaprio movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which did $5.8M off showtimes that started at 4PM. That R-rated movie morphed into a first Friday of $16.7M, and $41M 3-day, a record domestic opening for Tarantino. That movie had the added boost of an early August release date, as well as the marquee power of Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Once Upon a Time..also had a long tail in regards to its word of mouth, blasting off with a worldwide Cannes premiere at the start of summer.

The Rotten Tomatoes Audience score for One Battle After Another stands at 87% which is higher than a slew of DiCaprio fan faves, i.e. The Revenant (84%), Killers of the Flower Moon (84%), Wolf of Wall Street (83%), and even Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (70%). Among Anderson movies, One Battle After Another is heads and tails higher than the helmer’s last movie, 2021’s Licorice Pizza (65%), as well as a point ahead of the 2x Oscar winner There Will Be Blood (86%), but under Boogie Nights and Magnolia which both stand at 89%. More updates in the AM.

One Battle After Another is expected to file in the low $20M range stateside off its $130M-$140M production cost. The movie’s fate will be determined in the long run. Warners opted to skip the spotlight of the fall film festival troika after Joker: Folie a Deux ran into a buzzsaw at Venice last year. The studio began screening One Battle After Another just as press were returning from Toronto. A win this weekend for One Battle After Another is a win for original theatrical films in the streaming era.