One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s next outing as a director starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is already a hugely anticipated movie of 2025. The hype has recently grown even bigger as The New York Times’ list of the 100 best movies of the 21st Century wholeheartedly celebrates both the director and the movie star for their contributions to cinema.
As an icon who defined a generation and continues to enthrall audiences with compelling performances, Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the best actors in Hollywood. Leonardo DiCaprio’s highest-grossing movies illustrate how he’s a bona fide star, possessing the acting talent to earn critical acclaim, the trust of directors and producers, and the adoration of fans and peers alike.
Meanwhile, as an A-list director with some movies that don’t get enough love, Paul Thomas Anderson might be the most underrated filmmaker currently active. His cinema beautifully captures the multifaceted nature of the human experience in the form of life-affirming movies. Among other famous directors with new movies coming out in 2025 is Anderson, featuring a long-awaited collaboration.
Paul Thomas Anderson & Leonardo DiCaprio Both Appear Four Times On The NYT’s Top 100 Movies Of The 21st Century List
They’re Among The Most Frequently Recurring Directors & Actors
Since Anderson and DiCaprio haven’t previously worked together, it is obvious why any mention of them on lists based on their past work will be separate. The New York Times’ list of the best 100 movies of the 21st Century includes four movies directed by Anderson and four films starring DiCaprio, demonstrating the extent of their influence.
One Battle After Another also marks the first time Paul Thomas Anderson will be working with Sean Penn and Regina Hall.
At number 56 is PTA’s Punch-Drunk Love, featuring one of Adam Sandler’s greatest performances. Anderson’s The Master, starring Joaquin Phoenix, whose movie Her is also on the NYT’s list, occurs at number 42. Number 25, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is Phantom Thread, and in third, earning PTA a podium finish, is There Will Be Blood, also starring Day-Lewis.
Anderson’s filmmaking can make you gasp — the soaring camerawork speaks to the ambitions of protagonist and director alike — and so can the environmental and spiritual devastations that haunt this deeply American tragedy (via The New York Times).
In the top 25, DiCaprio’s name occurs at 20, as the star of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, followed by another Scorsese film, The Departed, at 31. At 44 comes Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, starring some of the most prominent rising stars today. The fourth DiCaprio film is Christopher Nolan’s Inception at number 55.
NYT’s Poll Cements One Battle After Another As One Of 2025’s Most-Anticipated Movies
It Recognizes The Huge Impact Both The Director & The Actor Have Had
Occurring four times on as prestigious a list as The New York Times’ recent publication is no mean feat. Not only are there four Leonardo DiCaprio movies on the list, but the actor also plays the lead role in all four of these films.
Paul Thomas Anderson might feel underrated as a director as his films don’t come up as often in discourses as movies by other directors of similar stature, but the NYT’s poll proves that his influence has hardly gone unnoticed. Directing one of the top three films of the century is one of the greatest achievements of a filmmaker’s career.
As if a long-awaited Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Thomas Anderson collaboration wasn’t an exciting enough prospect, both of them have been named four times by the NYT’s new poll, cementing their status as two of the most important people in recent Hollywood history. As a Paul Thomas Anderson movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another is even more enticing now.
