‘One Battle After Another’: Paul Thomas Anderson Says There Will Be No Director’s Cut & Jokes About A Chase Infinti-Led Sequel

The popular cinephile French YouTube channel Kobini (which sort of takes a page from popular The Criterion Closet videos) recently spoke with “One Battle After Another” writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson and star Leonardo DiCaprio about the Best Picture hopeful, where Anderson was directly asked about the chances of getting a director’s cut of the film, and joked about the potential of a follow-up installment with breakout actress Chase Infinti reprising the role of Willa Ferguson.

When asked if audiences could expect a director’s cut from you for “One Battle After Another” in the near future? PTA responded with, “No, no. I mean, there were things that were cut. There’s always things that were cut, but nothing significant or nothing that we would be proud of, I think. Probably things that, you know…”

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DiCaprio follows up by stating, “I saw the early cuts, and there was great stuff in it, but look, the film is… How long is the film? Two hours and something? Something, yeah. And there’s not a moment in that film that, you know, doesn’t galvanize you and have it the tension of moving forward with supremely high stakes. I think a longer version of it wouldn’t give you that adrenaline rush. You know, it wouldn’t have that same feeling of a chase and this impending doom. coming towards these characters, you know, especially Willa, it wouldn’t be the same.”

Another question posed was whether Perfidia (played by Teyana Taylor) reunites with Willa and Bob? Leo says the idea was floated, at one point, “There was a thought of that at one time.”

PTA adding, “There were thoughts of that. Yeah, yeah, sure. And years and years ago, writing things that might happen if that were the case, and they never really panned out. I like where it lands. I like where it ends. It’s, you know.” While joking, “Maybe we’ll go make a sequel where Chase [infiniti] goes on a journey. No, don’t don’t take me seriously, you know, yeah, of course, of course, I’m just joking about that.”

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There is a strong feeling that “One Battle After Another” has an excellent shot at nabbing a substantial number of Oscar nominations across the board, given that it already tops the film category at the Golden Globes with nine nominations, just ahead of other big contender “Sentimental Value.” Whether that translates to actual Oscar gold is another thing entirely. However, we suspect the chances are excellent at this point in the awards race, as the Academy’s track record on previous Anderson films like “Phantom Thread” and “There Will Be Blood” (the Academy tends to look favorably upon filmmakers with Oscar wins under their belts).

You can watch that full exchange with Anderson and DiCaprio below.