The Town with Matthew Belloni One Box Office Battle After Another for PTA
26 snips
Sep 29, 2025 
Lucas Shaw, a Bloomberg entertainment reporter, dives into the weekend box office performance of 'One Battle After Another,' debating whether it’s a flop or a hit. He discusses Warner Bros.' sparse 2025 slate and the potential repercussions for studio chiefs amid a looming sale. Lucas also analyzes Trump's tariff threats on foreign films, exploring their unlikely impact. The conversation wraps up with exciting predictions about AI performers like Tilly Norwood and their uncertain future in Hollywood.
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PTA Film Opened Strong Critically, Weak Commercially
- One Battle After Another opened to about $22.4M domestic and $48.5M worldwide, a strong PTA opening but weak for its $130–140M budget.
- The film's quality and city-centric turnout could give it legs, but theatrical profit looks unlikely without major overseas growth.
Budget Drives Success Threshold
- At roughly $140M production cost, the movie likely needs about $300M worldwide to break even after marketing.
- Strong reviews don't negate that studios fund films to make money, not solely for prestige.
Urban, Blue-City Audience Skew
- The movie over-indexed in big cities and blue counties, with New York notably strong and Houston/Dallas weak.
- That urban, coastal concentration limits immediate mass-market expansion and box office upside.
