late film

Leonardo DiCaprio can still draw audiences to movie theaters.

His latest film, “One Battle After Another,” landed in the top spot at the box office this weekend, hauling in $22.4 million in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, the film made $48.5 million in its opening weekend. Industry analyst estimates had pegged the film’s debut at $20 million to $25 million, though some had predicted $30 million or more. Studio sources expected the film to bring in $20 million in its domestic opening.

Written and directed by auteur filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” tells the story of a one-time revolutionary, played by DiCaprio, who must band together with old friends and community members to rescue his daughter from a former enemy. The film, which is loosely based on a Thomas Pynchon novel, also stars Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall. Its budget was $130 million.

“One Battle After Another” had strong interest from Hollywood cinephiles, but there were questions about whether it would connect with more casual moviegoers, particularly since early marketing was more ambiguous about its genre. In addition, adult dramas have not performed at the box office as they did before the pandemic, as older audiences have been slower to return to theaters. Fans of DiCaprio, who may have followed his career since his turn in 1997’s “Titanic,” fall into that group.

But the film notched a solid 98% approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and has benefited from buzz about its awards potential.

“One Battle After Another” marks the latest win for Warner Bros. The studio has had a string of success at the theaters starting with April’s “A Minecraft Movie,” which has grossed a total of $957 million. That streak continued with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” James Gunn’s “Superman,” Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” and the latest installments of franchises like “The Conjuring” and “Final Destination.” It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the studio and its film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, who earlier this year were reportedly on the hot seat for under-performing films.

At that time, “One Battle After Another” was seen as an especially risky bet for De Luca and Abdy, but the success of the rest of the year’s lineup has reduced the pressure on this film, said Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of site Box Office Theory.

“They’re in an envious position right now because they don’t need this movie to over-perform,” he said. “‘One Battle After Another’ is a little bit of a cherry on top.”

“Gabby’s Dollhouse” came in second place at the box office this weekend, grossing $13.5 million. “Demon Slayer,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and “The Strangers: Chapter 2” rounded out the top five.

Marlon Wayans is putting up a “defensive run-stopping front” after his latest film received negative reviews from critics.

The actor took to his Instagram account over the weekend to promote his latest film, “HIM,” which hit the big screen Friday, and told fans to form their own opinions on the project. The movie currently holds a 29% score with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

“An opinion does not always mean it’s everyone’s opinion. Some movies are ahead of the curve,” Wayans said. “Innovation is not always embraced and art is to be interpreted and it’s subjective.”

The post include screen grabs from the Rotten Tomatoes pages of his other movies that have been classified “rotten” by the website but were later embraced by audiences like 2004’s “White Chicks,” the first two films in the “Scary Movie” franchise, 2013’s “A Haunted House” and 1996’s “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.” The post ends with a screen grab of the “HIM” Rotten Tomatoes page.

“I’ve had a career of making classic movies that weren’t critically received and those movies went on to be CLASSICS. So don’t take anyone’s opinion just go see for yourself,” Wayans added.

So far, audiences have given the film a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Times film critic, Amy Nicholson, credited the the film for its “stylishly” craftsmanship but said it was lacking plot.

Among the herd of aspiring actors who move to Los Angeles to pursue their Hollywood dreams, Manny Jacinto was sure to set modest expectations for himself.

“In my head, I was going to come here a few times,” says Jacinto, who grew up in Richmond, Canada. “I was going to try pilot [season] once, fail, come back next year, fail again, and I was going to repeat that pattern probably for the next five years until hopefully, fingers crossed, I landed something.”

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

But just a few months after relocating to L.A. in 2016, he nabbed a starring role in NBC’s “The Good Place,” alongside Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, and “it just changed my life,” says Jacinto, who played the lovable but not-so-bright Jason Mendoza.

Since that breakout performance, Jacinto has racked up several more acting credits including “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Acolyte.” His latest film, “Freakier Friday” — the sequel to the hit 2003 film — hits theaters today.

“Little Manny, who was waking up on a Sunday [and] watching cartoons, would have never thought he’d be acting opposite Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan,” says Jacinto, who plays Eric Reyes, Lohan’s British fiancé in the film.

We caught up with Jacinto to talk about his perfect day in L.A., which he would spend with his wife and best friend, Dianne Doan. On the agenda is an intense morning workout, dinner with loved ones at a Filipino restaurant that reminds him of home and enjoying boba at the park.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

9 a.m.: Wake up and meditate
Ideally, I’d get up at 9 a.m. to get enough enough sleep, but also get some things done for the day. I’ll try to meditate for 10 minutes using the Calm app or just by myself. I typically don’t really eat until after 11 a.m., but if I need something in my stomach, I will make a shake. It could be as basic as protein powder, collagen and a greens powder or it can be as elaborate as all the berries, hemp seeds, beet powder and spinach.

11 a.m.: Work up a sweat
I will try and hit up some sort of workout class to get my body active. I’ve been going to this place in Glassell Park called Ganbatte Fitness and it’s a good community of people. It’s also Asian-owned and it kicks my butt. It’s probably the hardest workout that I’ve ever done in my life — not even just in L.A., like around the world. Or I’ll hit up a hot yoga class. CorePower is always a go-to. I’ll do the C2 hot power yoga class and get my sweat in.

1 p.m.: Find the best sandwich in L.A.
Afterward, I’d have my first proper meal. For some reason, I’ve been scouring L.A. for the best sandwich spots. I’ve ran into a few. One of them is Mamie. It’s an Italian sandwich spot in West Hollywood. The last sandwich that I had is the Viale Di Parma, which has fig jam. It’s really good. There’s also Bodega Park [near] Silver Lake. Their spicy chicken Caesar is solid. Then there’s a place in Frogtown called Wax Paper and it’s basically in a shipping container on a corner of the street. They have really solid sandwiches.

3 p.m.: Sip on boba at the park
We might do some retail therapy. There’s this store in Silver Lake that I found called Anonymous Ism. They have a lot of Japanese clothing, just a lot of unique and quality pieces that you don’t really see often. If I’m not doing that, I’ll go hang out at a park. Our dog, Henry, passed away in November. He, Dianne and I used to get bubble tea and hang out at Lacy Park. That would be our afternoon chill out time. We haven’t been to that park in a while partly because we would really go because of Henry. It was a tough one to get over, but we’ll definitely be back. We’d get boba from Bopomofo Cafe and I always get the strawberry corn milk. Some people think it’s weird because of the corn, but it reminds me of a Filipino or Vietnamese dessert.

7 p.m.: A meal that ‘reminds me a bit of home’
It feels like I’m just eating constantly, but I love an early dinner so we’d have dinner with friends after the park. I really love this place called Lasita in Chinatown. They’re really good people, there’s really great vibes and the food is always on point. Because I’m Filipino and it’s a Filipino restaurant, it just reminds me of a bit of home. They are always switching up the menu, but the pork belly lechon is a go-to. Either that or we’d go to one of my other favorite restaurants, which is Majordomo in the Arts District.

9 p.m.: Wind down with ‘Mario Kart’
I am 50 years old at heart, so I’m ready to pack it up. I love an early dinner and I love ending my night with “Mario Kart.” It’s a random thing that I started picking up during the pandemic. It’s kind of like my wind down. They recently released the [Nintendo] Switch 2 and it’s wild because I’ve been seeing all these articles saying that “Mario Kart” is the most stressful game to play. It raises your heart rate by like 50% or something like that, but it’s so calming to me just taking my mind off of things for a little bit. I usually play with Dianne or a group of friends online or people from around the world online.

11 p.m: Get some shut–eye
Then we’d get into our night routine. I’ll shower, cleanse, moisturize and all that stuff. I’ll also do 10 minutes of red light therapy and I’ll maybe meditate for a few minutes to calm myself down, then go to bed.

By the looks of the first trailer for “Bugonia,” Emma Stone’s latest collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos will be just as brilliantly bizarre as its predecessors.

“Bugonia,” an English-language remake of the South Korean sci-fi comedy “Save the Green Planet!,” follows two conspiracy theorists who believe Stone’s high-powered chief executive character is an alien planning to destroy planet Earth — so they kidnap her.

Stone and Lanthimos have previously worked together on “The Favourite” (2018), “Poor Things” (2023) and “Kinds of Kindness” (2024). “Bugonia” marks their third consecutive film in three years.

The trailer — released Thursday by Focus Features — opens with a voiceover, a metaphor and a shot of a beehive. “The workers gather pollen for the queen,” Jesse Plemons, who worked with Lanthimos and Stone in “Kinds of Kindness,” says as the trailer cuts to Stone’s swaggering CEO.

After a quippy kidnapping montage with Plemons and Aidan Delbis’ characters set to Green Day’s “Basket Case,” Stone is shown lying unconscious in a bed. Jarring chords alternate with action-packed footage of fist fights and police chases, all framed in Lanthimos’ quintessential style.

“How can you tell she’s an alien?” Delbis asks. Plemons replies, “Well, the signs are obvious.”

The conspiracy theory — and the truth about the CEO’s extraterrestrial status — remain anything but obvious in this initial teaser; fans will have to wait for the film’s release.

“Bugonia” is set for a limited run on Oct. 24 before expanding wide Oct. 31. Stavros Halkias and Alicia Silverstone round out the cast.