Sacramento-filmed ‘One Battle After Another’ tops box office in 1st weekend
“One Battle After Another,” the movie partly shot in Sacramento, was a hit in its first weekend with audiences, including local filmgoers.
The Paul Thomas Anderson-directed, Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film, which had 16 shooting days within Sacramento city limits in early 2024, finished first at the domestic box office for Sept. 26-28 grossing $22.4 million. This was on its way to $48.5 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro.
Other films in the top five for domestic gross for the weekend included “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” at $13.7 million, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” at $6.9 million, “The Strangers: Chapter 2” at $5.9 million and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie — Infinity Castle” at $4.9 million.
Among the 3,634 theaters showing “One Battle After Another” this past weekend was downtown Sacramento’s Esquire IMAX Theatre, which will show the film through Wednesday, according to Doug Link, the theater’s general manager. Link said the 11 screenings his theater hosted of the film from Thursday through Sunday averaged about 75% of capacity attendance.
The film, which is based on the Thomas Pynchon novel “Vineland,” has fictionalized locations, though Sacramento landmarks like the Tower Bridge were recognizable in trailers for the film.
Sacramento factors into about the first 25 minutes of “One Battle After Another,” which was shot elsewhere in Northern California, including Stockton and also near the U.S.-Mexico border in Southern California. Link said that people in the audience at his theater were trying to pick out the Sacramento filming locations.
“People were excited,” Link said. “They’d go, ‘Oh, I know the inside of that store… I know those people.’ I mean, they used a lot of local, background people. So people were excited to see themselves.”
Asked what the vibe was like from people as they were coming out of screenings, Link said people “really enjoyed it.” Link also said that he personally found the film entertaining and that he considered Sean Penn’s performance one of the best of his career. Penn is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor, for 2003’s “Mystic River and 2008’s “Milk.”
Link said that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Penn get another Academy Award nomination. The awards will be held March 15. Anderson has been nominated three times for Best Director — for 2007’s “There Will Be Blood,” 2017’s “Phantom Thread” and 2021’s “Licorice Pizza” — but never won. DiCaprio won Best Actor for 2016’s “The Revenant.”
“One Battle After Another,” which also stars Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor, reportedly cost as much as $175 million to make.
The film’s large budget might make it a challenge to turn a profit with marketing expenses factored in, since films can sometimes trail off dramatically for box office returns after their opening weekends. Link wasn’t worried, though, about how “One Battle After Another” will fare with audiences.
“It’s gonna be a slow burn,” Link said. “I think a lot of people… are gonna see it. I think after nominations are done, it’s gonna get re-released and they’ll see another bump.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 2:52 PM.
