Paul Thomas Anderson & Leonardo DiCaprio Cooked Up A Film & Cinema’s Back, Baby

Paul Thomas Anderson & Leonardo DiCaprio Cooked Up A Film & Cinema’s Back, Baby

By
Pamela Obeid

It’s not Christmas, but it might as well be for movie buffs with One Battle After Another about to hit cinemas. 

We’ve been spoiled with Paul Thomas Anderson directing AND Leonardo DiCaprio cast as the lead. Letterboxd isn’t ready for all the rave reviews coming its way.

Here’s everything you need to know about One Battle After Another before it drops in cinemas on September 25, 2025. 

What is One Battle After Another about? 

One Battle After Another follows a former missionary on the hunt for his missing daughter. Don’t expect this missionary to be stoic, though, as we watch Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio) fumble around in a robe, servo sunglasses and a beanie. (Honestly? Kinda relatable.)

Bob has to team up with his former group of civil rights activists, the French 75, whom he hasn’t seen in 16 years. Let’s just hope he can remember all the top-secret passcodes.

Hunted by their enemy, Steven Lockjaw, (played by Sean Penn), the disbanded French 75 will have to put aside their differences to protect a child that’s one of their own — and still make it out alive. 

If you’re looking for some light reading before watching the flick, One Battle After Another is loosely (and I mean loosely) based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland.

Who has been cast in One Battle After Another? 

If you ask me, you’ve never seen Leo like this before, cast as Bob Ferguson (the main character).

Unlike his typical super serious characters in films like Inception and Body of Lies, he’s able to have fun in this one. I’m keen to see how the Academy Award and BAFTA winner will bring this wacky yet multifaceted character to life. 

Speaking of BAFTA winners, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro are also ones to look out for. Sean’s playing the enemy, Steven J. Lockjaw, and Benicio stars as the sensei, Sergio.

Singer Teyana Taylor stars across from Bob as the mother of his child, Perfidia Beverly Hills — with the daughter Willa Ferguson, played by Chase Infiniti. Deandra (Regina Hall) seems to play as one of the missionaries from Bob and Willa’s past, so it’ll be interesting to see how they interact there. 

Other actors to look out for are Wood Harris and Alana Haim, who mysteriously don’t have character names yet. Let the conspiracy theories begin. 

Who is directing and producing One Battle After Another?

As mentioned, the one and only Paul Thomas Anderson is directing One Battle After Another. He’s best known for his movies with themes of redemption, like in Inherent Vice. Plus, Paul writes every single film that he produces. Let’s just say — the film is definitely in good hands.

The producers are part of the greats, AKA Oscar and BAFTA nominees Adam Somner and Sara Murphy, with Will Weiske executive producing. 

Oh, we’re eating good this year.

Why is One Battle After Another a big deal? 

In 1997, Paul offered Leo the role of Eddie Adams in Boogie Nights. He had to turn it down for — you guessed it — Titanic. 

In an interview with Esquire, Leo told Paul that it was his biggest career regret. 

“I know One Battle After Another has been on your desk for a long time. It was a personal story for you in a lot of ways and certainly pertinent to the world that we’re living in right now,” Leo said. 

“But ultimately, wanting to do this movie was pretty simple: I’ve been wanting to work with you, Paul, for something like twenty years now, and I loved this idea of the washed-up revolutionary trying to erase his past and disappear to try and live some sort of normal life raising his daughter.”

Almost thirty years later, we’re finally getting the collab of the century in One Battle After Another — hitting cinemas on September 25, 2025. Grab the popcorn.

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