There were rumors that Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly anticipated “One Battle After Another” was going to move off its summer release date to the fall for months. Those murmurs came to fruition on Wednesday as Warner Bros. pulled another potential hit, Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” into the August 8th date “One Battle” had held for over a year. Anderson’s Leonardo DiCaprio action flick is now debuting on September 26. Additionally, WB also pushed Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride” to March 6, 2026.
Starring Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, and Alden Ehrenreich, “Weapons” was originally dated over Martin Luther King Day Weekend, opening on Jan. 16. Taking “One Battle’s” date gives Warner Bros. the IMAX screens the studio wants to fuel its theatrical run. Moreover, the studio needs a profitable hit or two in the 2026 calendar year to make up for financial disappointments such as Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17” (a movie that will make at least $110 million globally, but cost $118 million) and this weekend’s “Alto Knights,” Barry Levinson‘s $45 million thriller which is expected to open in the low single digits (potentially one of the biggest bombs of the year). The entire calendar cannot count on James Gunn’s “Superman” to save the day, her, bottom line. “Weapons” was acquired by New Line for just $38 million (the final shooting budget likely ended up slightly higher). If it plays, it could be a much-needed money-maker for the studio. It will now open against Disney’s super-hyped “Freakier Friday” sequel which is hoping to cash in on nostalgia for the 2003 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.
The new release date is an odd one for “One Battle After Another.” Very few “blockbusters” have opened during that specific September frame although Warner Bros. had success at the beginning of the month with the “It” franchise and “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,” just six months ago. Still, most fall tentpole releases open in October or the beginning of November. In theory, WB is avoiding releasing in between “Tron Ares” and Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man” remake, but is anyone seriously worried about the former? Does Disney and Paramount genuinely have that many IMAX screens locked up? This could also set the movie up for awards season, but reports indicate Anderson is not interested in a festival debut.
The current date is a perfect setup for a Venice Film Festival or Toronto International Film Festival two-fer which would give WB a slew of red carpet premieres it used to launch “Barbie,” the “Dune” franchise, “Wonka,” and the aforementioned “Beetlejuice” sequel, among others. That being said, one of the reasons given for the firing of now former head of marketing Josh Goldstine by studio heads Pam Addy and Michael De Luca was specifically for doing the same campaign for every movie. Moreover, if anyone knows DiCaprio and Anderson, the last thing they want to do is stop and give sound bytes on a red carpet. That would put a lot of pressure on co-stars Regina King, Alana Haim, and Teyana Taylor to generate viral moments that reverberate on social media.
As for “The Bride,” Warner Bros. gets Gyllenhaal’s follow-up to “The Lost Daughter” out of an awards season frame and away from Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” which Netflix will release in select theaters (barely) in November. At a reported $95 million production cost, a figure Netflix balked at before WB swooped in, it also needs as many IMAX screens as it can get. The studio will also be hoping audiences aren’t burned out by del Toro’s period version and intrigued by Gyllenhaal’s seemingly contemporary take starring her brother Jake Gyllenhaal, Christian Bale, and Jessie Buckley.
The Warner Bros Discovery division will also be hoping to make up for potential losses later in the year with “A Minecraft Movie” opening on April 4 and the Ryan Coogler and Micheal B. Jordan reunion, “Sinners,” on April 18.
