DiCaprio's New Awards Play Edges Past Killers of the Flower Moon at Home
If you've felt the vibe shift at the multiplex lately, you're not imagining it. Big, adult-skewing dramas are still drawing crowds - just differently than they used to.
This week, Paul Thomas Anderson (movies and tv series)'s One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio (movies and tv series), slipped past Killers of the Flower Moon domestically. And it's expected to cross the $200 million mark worldwide any day now, per a report from Collider.
Here's the context that matters. DiCaprio's earlier hits, The Revenant and The Wolf of Wall Street, pushed past $500 million and $400 million worldwide. These new prestige titles aren't getting there - but they're still finding real audiences, just with steadier, slower legs.
- Killers of the Flower Moon: a sweeping, $200 million Western crime saga that opened wide, then leaned on awards-season oxygen.
- One Battle After Another: quieter week-to-week dips, strong word of mouth, and the kind of "you've got to see it" chatter that nudges latecomers back into theaters.
If you cover Westerns or awards contenders, this is the takeaway: there's room for adult epics, but the ceiling's lower than a decade ago. The floor's higher, though, for movies with a clear hook and a trusted star.
Maybe it's timing - fall awards corridor, fewer four-quadrant behemoths hogging screens. Maybe it's the promise of a PTA-DiCaprio pairing. Either way, the message to studios is pretty clear: package matters, patience matters, and platforming still works when the movie actually lands with people.
What to watch next: nomination tallies, premium screen share, and holdover strength against holiday releases. If One Battle After Another keeps snagging strong weekends, that $200 million worldwide milestone won't be the last headline it makes.
Sources and further reading
Original report: Collider. For historical box office on Killers of the Flower Moon, see Box Office Mojo.
