Warner Bros. One Battle After Anotherearned Paul Thomas Anderson the best box office open of his career with a $22.4 million domestic take and $48.5 million globally. Elsewhere on the domestic and global charts, the G-ratedGabby's Dollhouse: The Movietook No. 2, andDemon Slayer: Infinity Castleadded another $7.1 million. Next week,The Smashing Machine, the gritty sports biopic directed by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson, hits theaters. Paul Thomas Andersondecisively won the box office battle this weekend. The American auteur's latest concoction, radical comedic thrillerOne Battle After Another, earned Anderson the bestbox officeopen of his career this weekend, with a $22.4 million take domestically and an impressive global haul of $48.5 million, per Comscore. Anderson, 55, has directed many that went on to international acclaim and awards, but that hasn't always translated into profitability. His highest-grossing film at the domestic box office,There Will Be Blood, was given alimited releasein 2008 that raked in less than $200,000. But even once the film opened wide, it would take six weeks to surpass the sumOne Battle After Anotherearned in just three days. The combined star power ofLeonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, and Sean Penn has boosted this adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novelVinelandto new heights for Anderson. Though it's still far short of its estimated $130 million budget, the film likely has legs on its awards buzz. DreamWorks Animation Elsewhere on the domestic and global leaderboards this weekend areGabby's Dollhouse: The Movie, a feature adaptation of the celebrated, interactive preschool series. FeaturingBlack-ishstar Laila Lockhart Kraner,Gabby's Dollhousescored an impressive $19.2 million globally and $13.7 million domestically in its opening weekend, earning it the No. 2 spot. Japan's dark anime fantasyDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castlecontinued its global onslaught by securing an additional $7.1 million in its third week in U.S. theaters. Around the world, the latest film in the sprawling, multi-mediaInfinity Castlefranchise crossed the $600 million mark, securing it a spot among the 10 highest grossing films of the year on the global charts thus far. The slasher sequelThe Strangers: Chapter 2opened to $5.9 million this weekend, earning the No. 5 spot domestically and representing a mixed blessing for director Renny Harlin. While the middle installment in the planned reboot trilogy starringRiverdalebreakout Madelaine Petsch earned $7.2 million globally, meaning it's sure to surpass its estimated budget of $8.5 million, this weekend's opening figure represents the worst in franchise history, and a steep fall from the 2008 original's $21 million start. Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. There's more bad news in horror forHim, the football thriller starringI Know What You Did Last Summerreboot star Tyriq Withers. After a disappointing $13.5 million opening, the film added only $3.6 million domestically in week 2 against an estimated budget of $27 million, which is likely closer to $50 or even $60 million, factoring in marketing costs. Next week sees the release of several titles that have a decent shot of contending for the box office crown againstOne Battle After Another. Most promising isThe Smashing Machine, the new sports biopic of mixed martial artist Mark Kerr from director Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson. Box office watchers areeyeing an opening figurearound $20 million, but the film is pitted against the aquatic horrorBone Lake, the comedy-horror canine thrillerGood Boy, andThe Ice Tower, French visionary filmmaker Luicle Hadzihalilovic's fairy tale-esque star vehicle for Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
