Box Office Round-Up ~ 9/30/25

It was a good news/bad news situation for One Battle After Another this past weekend. The latest from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson won the box office with a $22 million debut, by far the biggest opening of his acclaimed career (breezing past There Will Be Blood’s $4.9 million back in 2008). Unfortunately, $22 million was lower than Warner Bros. was hoping for the $140 million budgeted awards contender (more if you factor in a heavy marketing campaign). Positive word-of-mouth and the upcoming awards season may give the film some staying power, but it’s unlikely to become one of Warner Bros.’ many hits of 2025.

In second place, fellow new release Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie also had a soft opening weekend, grossing just $13.6 million. Expectations weren’t as high as they were for One Battle After Another, and the film may see some legs as family-friendly counter programming during the Halloween season. In third place, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle continued its remarkable U.S. box office run, grossing $7.1 million to put it at $118 million overall.

The Conjuring: Last Rites stayed in the top five, grossing $6.7 million in fourth place after four weekends in theaters, for a U.S. total of $161 million. Unfortunately, those numbers likely came at the expense of new horror release The Strangers: Chapter 2 (which is actually the fourth in the long-running Strangers franchise), which debuted in fifth place with just $5.8 million, putting future chapters in doubt, especially with more horror titles coming throughout October.

The first weekend of October will see a wide array of new releases as well as a couple notable re-releases, including the 30th anniversary of Casper, anime classic Perfect Blue and a theatrical re-release of Avatar: The Way of Water in anticipation of Avatar: Fire & Ash later this year. New releases including the Dwayne Johnson-led biopic The Smashing Machine, horror titles Bone Lake and Good Boy, Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to theaters in Anemone, and of course Taylor Swift’s The Official Release Party of a Showgirl theatrical tie-in to her new upcoming album.

1. One Battle After Another ($22 MM)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (CAA)
Writers: Paul Thomas Anderson (CAA)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (LBI Entertainment)
Sean Penn (CAA)
Teyana Taylor (WME)

2. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie ($13.6 MM)
Director: Ryan Crego (UTA)
Writers: Ryan Crego (UTA), Melanie Wilson LaBracio (IAG), Adam Wilson (IAG)
Cast: Laila Lockhart Kraner (Susie Osser Talent Co.)
Kristen Wiig (CAA)
Carla Tassara (Sutton, Barth & Vennari)

3. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Infinity Castle ($7.1 MM)
Director: Haruo Sotozaki, Hikaru Kondô
Writers: Koyoharu Gotouge, Hikaru Kondô
Cast: Zach Aguilar (Dean Panaro Talent)
Johnny Yong Bosch (Osbrink Talent Agency)
Griffin Burns (CESD Talent Agency)

4. The Conjuring: Last Rites ($6.7 MM)
Director: Michael Chaves (CAA)
Writers: Ian Goldberg (WME), Richard Naing (IAG), David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (CAA), James Wan (CAA)
Cast: Vera Farmiga (CAA)
Patrick Wilson (CAA)
Ben Hardy (UTA)

5. The Strangers: Chapter 2 ($5.8 MM)
Director: Renny Harlin (UTA)
Writers: Alan R. Cohen (Gersh), Alan Freedland (Gersh)
Cast: Rachel Shenton (Industry Entertainment)
Gabriel Basso (WME)
Madelaine Petsch (CAA)

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers