Key points
Leonardo DiCaprio is worried about the film industry “changing at a lightning speed.”
The Titanic star wonders if “people still have the appetite” to see movies in theaters in the streaming era.
DiCaprio also fears cinemas might become “silos — like jazz bars” for a more niche audience.
Leonardo DiCaprio is worried about the future of cinema.
In an era of studio mergers, streaming behemoths, and decreased box office returns, the Catch Me if You Can actor wonders about the viability of theatrical filmmaking.
“It’s changing at a lightning speed,” DiCaprio said of the film industry in a new interview with U.K. outlet The Times. “We’re looking at a huge transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas. Now, dramas only get finite time and people wait to see it on streamers. I don’t know.”
The Wolf of Wall Street star remains hopeful that movies will always capture the attention of dedicated fans, but he fears that the medium, or at least the moviegoing experience, could become so niche that it slips out of mainstream culture.
“Do people still have the appetite?” he asked. “Or will cinemas become silos — like jazz bars?”
Frazer Harrison/WireImage
Leonardo DiCaprio in November 2025
DiCaprio, who has maintained his stardom appearing in prestige dramas from auteur filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, wants the industry to continue to support artistically minded directors.
“I just hope enough people who are real visionaries get opportunities to do unique things in the future that are seen in the cinema,” the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star said. “But that remains to be seen.”
DiCaprio’s latest movie, One Battle After Another, is his first collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson, who previously helmed acclaimed films like Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. The Oscar-buzzy project documents a Latin American community coming into conflict with militant government agents.
DiCaprio said the residents of El Paso, Texas, where the movie was shot, were happy to take part in a work of resistance. “Our film has Immigration and Customs Enforcement–like officials coming to get my daughter and we are literally in a border town where the threat of all of that is bubbling,” he recalled to The Times. “We needed extras to create a mob and go, ‘Viva la revolucion!’ They all said, ‘Let’s go.'”
Warner Bros. Pictures
Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘One Battle After Another’
The actor portrays ex-revolutionary Bob Ferguson, who spends the majority of the movie searching for his missing daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). Though the film depicts political violence by leftist revolutionaries, right-wing militias, and white supremacists, DiCaprio was unconcerned with its politics when taking on the role.
“It never even occurred to me to not be part of the film because of its political undertones,” the Titanic star said. “And I don’t think there is any specific political agenda or ideology attached to it. We’ve had reactions from both the left and right, which, to me, says something. And anyway, at the end of the film, Bob is just a dad who’s there for his daughter.”
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
One Battle After Another premiered in theaters on Sept. 26, 2025. It is streaming now on HBO Max.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly