With One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio Proves He's In A League Of His Own

With One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio Proves He's In A League Of His Own Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another By  Cooper Hood Published 49 minutes ago Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Hollywood has long been built around the idea of movie stars. Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, and Bette Davis are but a few of the classic examples. Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and more dominated the 1970s.

The 1980s were fueled by Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eddie Murphy, Molly Ringwald, Meryl Streep, and more. By the 1990s, it was the likes of Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, and more leading the charge.

But with the rise of IP and franchises in Hollywood during the 21st century, a true movie star is harder to come by than ever. Someone who is certifiably charming, extremely entertaining, and able to put butts in movie theaters is rare. Hollywood's new age of stars, like Glen Powell, Sydney Sweeney, Adam Driver, and Florence Pugh, have seen those challenges.

Yet, DiCaprio is still going strong. One Battle After Another's box office performance, crossing the $200 million milestone, is another hallmark of his status as a legitimate A-list movie star. But is he the only one Hollywood has left to offer?

Leonardo DiCaprio's Movie Star Status Turned One Battle After Another Into A Hit

Leonardo DiCaprio's Bob looking seriously while talking to someone in One Battle After Another

It's an oversimplification to put all of One Battle After Another's success on DiCaprio's shoulders. It was a rave-reviewed movie with a huge marketing spend by Warner Bros. that sold itself as more of an action/comedy thriller to get audiences in theaters. But DiCaprio's starring role also certainly helped its cause.

He's been one of the industry's most consistent box office draws since Titanic shattered records 28 years ago. One Battle After Another is his eighth movie to make over $200 million worldwide since 2010, with only two wide-release films of his not hitting that mark during these last 15 years.

That's an elite performance by the actor, especially when he's doing that without any major franchises and only a rare IP like The Great Gatsby remake. Several other actors have grossed more than him during this stretch, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who's delivered these results without any sort of franchise play.

In fact, it's hard to imagine One Battle After Another coming remotely close to the same performance without DiCaprio at its core. Just look at this year's movies. Dwayne Johnson couldn't turn The Smashing Machine into a financially successful launch. Powell is in the midst of The Running Man underperforming. Even Cruise's The Final Reckoning finished below what you'd expect for the last Mission: Impossible film.

One could point to his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star as an actor who could have brought in similar business for One Battle After Another after he turned F1: The Movie into a $631 million blockbuster. But, while Pitt has had hits since 2010, he's still had fewer $200M+ performers than DiCaprio despite being in several more projects.

With DiCaprio limiting his acting roles in comparison to many of his contemporaries, there's an event nature to anything he does now. He's not at risk of audiences feeling over-saturated with his screen presence and growing tired of him, something that's happened to Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, and others previously.

In an age where Hollywood is looking at Powell, Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal, and others as the next generation of movie stars and hoping Cruise, Pitt, Washington, George Clooney, Matt Damon, and others can keep delivering hits, One Battle After Another further proves DiCaprio may just be in a league of his own.

He's not just a movie star who can deliver Oscar-worthy work. He can consistently get audiences to see his stuff in theaters. And with the rise in popularity of streaming and VOD, that's more important than ever before.

33 8.8/10 9/10

One Battle After Another

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed R Action Crime Thriller Release Date September 26, 2025 Runtime 162 minutes Director Paul Thomas Anderson Writers Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon Producers Adam Somner, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy 5 Images leonardo dicaprio holding a gun in one battle after another 1280x720One Battle After AnotherHow Paul Thomas Anderson Often Surprised One Battle After Another StarsLeonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson in One Battle After AnotherLeonardo DiCaprio with hood on in One Battle After AnotherClose

Cast

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• Leonardo DiCaprio Bob Ferguson
• Sean Penn Col. Steven J. Lockjaw

Genres Action, Crime, Thriller Powered by Expand Collapse

• One Battle After Another
• Leonardo DiCaprio

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