Warner Bros. enacted some significant housekeeping around its film release schedule on Wednesday, including a new date for the highly anticipated Paul Thomas Anderson film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Now officially titled “One Battle After Another,” the Anderson project is shrouded in mystery but said to be an American crime thriller. Previously dated for Aug. 8, the film will now open nationwide on Sept. 26.
Insiders familiar with the movie said the minor push comes as the studio helps outfit U.S. movie theaters with VistaVision projection systems to accommodate their director’s vision. A move out of August to late September also squeaks “One Battle” out of the summer box office season and places it closer to the awards corridor, Anderson’s natural habitat. (A studio source noted that auteur-driven films with commercial appeal play well in this zone, citing “Gravity” and “A Star is Born”). DiCaprio will costar with Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor.
Elsewhere on the Warners slate, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” will see a notable push from this September to March 6, 2026. Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley star in a steampunk twist on Frankenstein’s monster and his spouse, a film that will now receive a theatrical rollout far away from Guillermo del Toro’s own Frankenstein take starring Jacob Elordi (set to release on Netflix this November). Insiders note that March has been favorable to the studio’s tentpoles in recent years, including the “Dune” franchise and Legendary’s monster movies.
Director Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his successful horror feature “Barbarian” had previously been set for a January 2026 release. Officially titled “Weapons,” the multi-story horror epic starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner will come much earlier, with a new date of Aug. 8 (the original date for “One Battle After Another”). The pull-up would suggest a vote of confidence in Cregger’s latest, which will screen footage for global theater owners at the end of the month at Las Vegas’ CinemaCon. “Weapons” will now open a week after “Together,” Neon’s splashy Sundance horror acquisition starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie.
Another mystery project, “Flowervale Street” starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor and Maisy Stella, has moved from March 2026 to Aug. 14, 2026. Little is known about the film helmed by David Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”) and produced by J.J. Abrams, save that it’s set in the ‘80s and follows a family noticing bizarre happenings in their quaint neighborhood.
Finally, Warner Bros. Animation will unleash “The Cat in the Hat” two weeks earlier than planned, settling on February 27 next year. Featuring the voices of Bill Hader and Quinta Brunson, the Seuss adaptation now gets some distance from the Pixar film “Hoppers,” set to open a week later.
From Variety US