Warner Bros and Paul Thomas Anderson are reportedly not in agreement on the final cut of One Battle After Another.
So far, this year isn’t proving to be a very successful one for Warner Bros in its attempt to successfully restore its image as a filmmaker-friendly studio. After several years where a series of short-sighted decisions created rifts with long-time partners, the studio framed 2025 as a year that would undo much of that reputational damage, lining up huge deals with respected filmmakers in a public display of intent: Warner Bros is once again supporting its artists.
However, things aren’t really going to plan so far.
The first major release of 2025 in this mould was Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, a film that arrived on a wave of controversy, dogged by reports that Warner Bros had tried to force a studio-mandated cut on the Oscar-winning director.
Later this year, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is set to arrive, and reports are suggesting that a similar battle for control over the film is occurring.
The story appears in Variety, and arrives at a time when the future of Warner Bros studio heads, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, is coming under close and sustained scrutiny. Reports over the last couple of days have suggested that DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran is in line to succeed them, and whether true or not, it’s certainly adding to the growing sense of pressure building around the situation.
According to an unnamed source quoted by Variety, the film has been shown to test audiences. And while certain performances have been singled out – DiCaprio is “quirky”, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn are said to be great – the cast’s overall “likeability” has reportedly been questioned by audiences. There’s also said to have been a “fight” between De Luca and Paul Thomas Anderson over the length of the final cut, which is currently over two and a half hours. Anderson may have trimmed the running time by as much as ten minutes according to one source, however.
What happens next remains to be seen, but the recent slate shuffle from Warner Bros might smooth the studio’s fortunes a little.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride has been pushed into 2026, while One Battle After Another has been moved from its original summer release date to September. While that may still make it difficult to find its way back into profitability, it will increase the film’s awards cachet. The placement of Zach Cregger’s Weapons on the 2025 schedule could also boost the studio’s coffers if it proves to be a hit.
We’ll bring you more as we hear it.
