Hollywood Relabels Colossal Flop “One Battle After Another” as a Comedy for Giant PR and Awards Rescue

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Just when everyone thought a movie bomb was a clear failure, Hollywood is trying to rewrite the narrative. Despite being a financial disaster for Warner Bros. Discovery and a setback for Leonardo DiCaprio, the controversial film One Battle After Another is now the subject of a major PR campaign. Warner Bros. is working with industry insiders to downplay the film’s failure, and their tactics are surprisingly ambitious.

Warner Bros. Discovery has unexpectedly entered Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, One Battle After Another, into the Golden Globes’ Musical/Comedy category. While studios sometimes make strategic category choices like this, awards experts are surprised by this particular move, as it significantly changes the competition in that category.

Just to be clear, One Battle After Another wasn’t intended to be a comedy – it wasn’t written, planned, or advertised that way. So it’s strange to see it now being presented as one after it’s already been released. Let’s see what’s happening.

Here’s what they’re really up to.

For years, the Golden Globes have let film studios decide whether to submit their movies for consideration as a comedy or drama. While a Globes committee can override those choices, films that blend genres sometimes end up in the Comedy/Musical category when the competition for Best Drama is especially tough. A prime example is The Martian, which surprisingly won Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical in 2016. This led to new rules and a lot of discussion about studios trying to strategically place their films in easier categories.

The political thriller One Battle After Another is flopping at the box office, and many believe a shift in perception to portray it as a comedy is underway. This isn’t because the film is funny, but rather because it failed to achieve its original goals – winning awards and appealing to a specific political viewpoint. Now, with its $600 million budget failing to deliver results, Hollywood seems determined to engineer an awards campaign for Leonardo DiCaprio to salvage the situation.

I’ve been following the box office numbers for One Battle After Another, and it’s doing really well, but it’s performing more like a suspenseful thriller than a huge comedy hit. So far, it’s made $68.5 million in the US. If you compare it to the top comedies of the year like Freakier Friday and The Bad Guys 2, it’s currently behind them in terms of overall earnings for 2025.

  • Freakier Friday – $94.2M domestic (No. 1 comedy of 2025 YTD)

  • The Bad Guys 2 – $82.5M domestic (No. 2)

  • One Battle After Another – $67.8M domestic (would be No. 3 if counted as a “comedy”)

  • The Naked Gun (2025) – $52.6M domestic (No. 3 without OBAA; No. 4 if OBAA joins)

Looking at the bigger picture, things are a bit brighter. The Bad Guys 2 has earned around $236 million worldwide, while Freakier Friday is at about $153 million. One Battle After Another is doing really well, pulling in roughly $191 million globally, which actually puts it in second place among these three films when you look at worldwide numbers.

Okay, so here’s what I’m picturing: Warner Bros. is hoping they can market The Bad Guys 2 as a straight-up family movie, not a comedy. That way, their other film, One Battle After Another, can swoop in and be crowned the year’s top comedy. And honestly, awards shows would have to acknowledge the #1 comedy, especially since it also seems to be poking fun at the things they love to hate. It’s a clever little strategy, if you ask me.

Here’s the likely plan:

  1. The film can still be marketed as a top comedy, but with specific details. While it won’t be the highest-grossing comedy overall, it can highlight wins like being the top live-action comedy worldwide or the highest-grossing comedy or dramedy that’s also award-worthy – these are the kinds of achievements studios often emphasize in their advertising. This strategy is similar to past awards season campaigns, where focusing on specific placements allows for easily promoted wins even if the film isn’t the biggest box office success.

  2. The Golden Globes offer a strong opportunity for a film to win recognition, especially a statue. The drama categories usually feature the biggest contenders for the Oscars, but the Comedy/Musical categories are more open and accept films that blend tones. If voters appreciate a film’s humor and strong performances, it has a good chance of being nominated for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and Best Actor without directly competing with the leading dramatic films. This strategy worked well for The Martian in the past.

Changing the Golden Globes category for One Battle After Another to comedy isn’t about fundamentally altering the show’s nature. It’s primarily a strategic move to increase its chances of winning and make it more appealing to voters.

While it likely won’t make OBAA the top comedy of 2025 domestically, this gives Warner Bros. something to boast about when looking at worldwide numbers. More importantly, it gives them their best chance at winning an award in January.

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2025-11-07 20:02