Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson
By Jürgen Fauth (flickr user muckster) (Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Best known as a Director based on credits in that role in 10 films, with $517,856,059 worldwide aggregate box office (rank #392)
Best-known technical roles: One Battle After Another (Director), One Battle After Another (Screenwriter), One Battle After Another (Producer), One Battle After Another (Cinematographer), There Will Be Blood (Director)
Most productive collaborators: Daniel Day-Lewis, Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi, Alana Haim, Lesley Manville
Born: June 26, 1970 (55 years old)
                                    

  1. Summary
  2. News
  3. Acting Credits
  4. Technical Credits

Career Summary


  MoviesDomestic
Box Office
International
Box Office
Worldwide
Box Office
In Technical RolesDirector10$240,111,591$277,744,468$517,856,059
Screenwriter9$222,793,584$262,158,926$484,952,510
Producer7$178,548,516$214,524,437$393,072,953
Cinematographer1$70,219,598$129,949,120$200,168,718

Latest Ranking on Selected Box Office Record Lists


Weekend projections: One Battle After Another and Gabby’s Dollhouse hoping for good word-of-mouth after middling debuts

September 28th, 2025

One Battle After Another

Ironically, Warner Bros.’ run of $40-million-plus openings for non-sequel movies will end with a film that industry insiders and critics are lauding as an awards-season front-runner. One Battle After Another will have the distinction of giving Paul Thomas Anderson his best weekend ever, besting the $4.9 million earned by There Will Be Blood during its run back in January 2008, but the new film will need exceptional legs to justify its higher production budget ($140 million vs. $25 million for There Will Be Blood), and marketing costs. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie will likewise need great word-of-mouth to become a hit. More...

Weekend predictions: One Battle After Another will win the weekend

September 26th, 2025

One Battle After Another

Despite being one of the most respected and award-winning directors in Hollywood, Paul Thomas Anderson has somehow contrived never to have one of his films earn more than $5 million over the course of a weekend. The closest he’s come is There Will Be Blood, which picked up $4.87 million on its fifth weekend in release, back in January 2008 (and landed in 9th on a chart led by, believe it or not, Meet the Spartans). That record will be beaten easily this weekend as One Battle After Another will mark the start of awards season with an opening that looks set to exceed $20 million. That will ensure not only a best weekend for Anderson, but also his first chart-topper. More...

Theater counts: One Battle After Another takes the top spot as widest release in its opening weekend

September 25th, 2025

One Battle After Another

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infinity Castle dominated the box office for another weekend, pulling in $17.3 million and soaring past the $100 million mark by Sunday. The anime juggernaut held off newcomer Him, which opened with a solid $13.3 million debut. This weekend sees a wave of fresh releases hitting theaters, with two of them emerging as the widest openings, both aiming to dethrone Demon Slayer from its box office reign. More...

Weekend estimates: Encanto leads modest Thanksgiving weekend

November 28th, 2021

Encanto

The first Thanksgiving with a full slate of new releases during the pandemic was full of uncertainty for theater owners. Family audiences have been returning to theaters but remain at about half their usual level, while the older crowd is mostly on the sidelines and at around 30% of its pre-pandemic size. A holiday weekend dominated by family fair like Encanto and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, with a side dish of the older-skewing House of Gucci is a welcome sight, but the big question was who would show. As it turns out, we’re looking at a modest weekend, with audiences hovering around their long term trend rather than rushing back to theaters. More...

Licorice Pizza trailer

September 28th, 2021

Drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman opens in theaters on November 26 ... Full Movie Details. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars: And the Winner is... The Shape of Water for Best Picture

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations: Final Look

March 4th, 2018

The Shape of Water

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. Nominees in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I will be happy no matter who wins Best Supporting Actress. One last note: The contest is still going and the leading for Best Picture Switched from The Shape of Water to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to tied over the time I was writing this story. This is the closest I’ve ever seen it. Guessing the best picture correctly will go a long way to winning. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Director

March 1st, 2018

The Shape of Water

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and who should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Director, which I think is a more competitive category than most people think it will be. More...

2017 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations

January 23rd, 2018

The Shape of Water

The Oscar nominations were announced starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year and no one has been able to adequately explain why to me. At least there were some interesting results this year. The Shape of Water led the way with 13 nominations, which is one below the current record and nearly as many as the next two films combined. Overall, there were seventeen films that earned two or more nominations. More...

Phantom Thread Trailer

October 24th, 2017

Paul Thomas Anderson drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis opens Christmas Day ... Full Movie Details.

Set in the glamour of 1950’s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock and his sister Cyril are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love. More...

2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Adapted Screenplay

February 17th, 2015

The Imitation Game poster

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This is also a two-horse race, but one of the horses has a significant, but not insurmountable lead. More...

2014 Awards Season: Oscars - Nominations

January 17th, 2015

Birdman poster

The Oscar nominations were announced early in the morning, when all sensible people were asleep. There were some surprises, as well as some results that would have been surprises had it not been for the previous Awards Season nominations. Seventeen films earned two or more nods, led by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, both of which picked up nine nominations, while The Imitation Game was right behind with eight. More...

2015 Preview: January

January 1st, 2015

Taken 3 poster

2014 is over and for the most part, December was a soft ending to a weak year. This is bad news for two reasons. Firstly, it means the overall box office is still soft and it is unlikely that January will start strong. Secondly, last January was a great month, thanks in part to Frozen and other holdovers. The slump can't last forever and Taken 3 should help 2015 get off to a reasonably fast start and it even has a shot at $100 million. American Sniper got off to a really fast start in limited release, so it too could be a hit when it expands wide. By comparison, last January was led by Ride Along, but there were only two other films that didn't completely bomb. I want to say 2015 will start out on a winning note, but given the box office losing streak, it will likely pay to be pessimistic. More...

2013 Awards Season: WGAs Leaves Analysts In the Dark

January 7th, 2013

Surprises seems to be the word of the day, as the WGA nominations included a number of them. Granted, Zero Dark Thirty and a lot of the other films that have earned Awards Season success thus far were here, but there were almost as many surprises as there were obvious choices. More...

All Acting Credits



All Technical Credits



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Release
Date
TitleRoleDomestic
Box Office
International
Box Office
Worldwide
Box Office
Sep 26, 2025One Battle After Another Director
Screenwriter
Producer
Director of Photography
$70,219,598$129,949,120$200,168,718
Nov 26, 2021Licorice Pizza Producer
Director
$17,318,007$15,585,542$32,903,549
Dec 25, 2017Phantom Thread Director
Screenwriter
$21,198,205$26,256,203$47,454,408
Dec 12, 2014Inherent Vice Director
Screenwriter
Producer
$8,110,975$6,695,856$14,806,831
Sep 14, 2012The Master Director
Screenwriter
Producer
$16,247,159$12,797,179$29,044,338
Dec 26, 2007There Will Be Blood Director
Screenwriter
$40,222,514$36,963,469$77,185,983
Oct 11, 2002Punch-Drunk Love Director
Screenwriter
Producer
$17,791,031$6,800,000$24,591,031
Dec 17, 1999Magnolia Director
Screenwriter
Producer
$22,450,975$25,995,786$48,446,761
Oct 10, 1997Boogie Nights Director
Screenwriter
Producer
$26,410,771$16,700,954$43,111,725
Feb 28, 1997Hard Eight Director
Screenwriter
$142,356$359$142,715
 
Averages $24,011,159$27,774,447$51,785,606
Totals 10 $240,111,591$277,744,468$517,856,059


Director Credits


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Release
Date
TitleOpening
Weekend
Maximum
Theaters
Domestic
Box Office
Worldwide
Box Office
Domestic
Share
Sep 26, 2025One Battle After Another $22,000,3873,634$70,219,598$200,168,71835.1%
Nov 26, 2021Licorice Pizza $345,1571,977$17,318,007$32,903,54952.6%
Dec 25, 2017Phantom Thread $216,4951,186$21,198,205$47,454,40844.7%
Dec 12, 2014Inherent Vice $328,184653$8,110,975$14,806,83154.8%
Sep 14, 2012The Master $736,311864$16,247,159$29,044,33855.9%
Dec 26, 2007There Will Be Blood $190,7391,620$40,222,514$77,185,98352.1%
Oct 11, 2002Punch-Drunk Love $367,2031,293$17,791,031$24,591,03172.3%
Dec 17, 1999Magnolia $193,6041,086$22,450,975$48,446,76146.3%
Oct 10, 1997Boogie Nights $50,1681,003$26,410,771$43,111,72561.3%
Feb 28, 1997Hard Eight $69,48629$142,356$142,71599.7%
 
Averages $2,449,7731,335$24,011,159$51,785,60657.5%
Totals 10 $240,111,591$517,856,059


Producer Credits


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Release
Date
TitleOpening
Weekend
Maximum
Theaters
Domestic
Box Office
Worldwide
Box Office
Domestic
Share
Sep 26, 2025One Battle After Another $22,000,3873,634$70,219,598$200,168,71835.1%
Nov 26, 2021Licorice Pizza $345,1571,977$17,318,007$32,903,54952.6%
Dec 12, 2014Inherent Vice $328,184653$8,110,975$14,806,83154.8%
Sep 14, 2012The Master $736,311864$16,247,159$29,044,33855.9%
Oct 11, 2002Punch-Drunk Love $367,2031,293$17,791,031$24,591,03172.3%
Dec 17, 1999Magnolia $193,6041,086$22,450,975$48,446,76146.3%
Oct 10, 1997Boogie Nights $50,1681,003$26,410,771$43,111,72561.3%
 
Averages $3,431,5731,501$25,506,931$56,153,27954.1%
Totals 7 $178,548,516$393,072,953


Writer Credits


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Release
Date
TitleOpening
Weekend
Maximum
Theaters
Domestic
Box Office
Worldwide
Box Office
Domestic
Share
Sep 26, 2025One Battle After Another $22,000,3873,634$70,219,598$200,168,71835.1%
Dec 25, 2017Phantom Thread $216,4951,186$21,198,205$47,454,40844.7%
Dec 12, 2014Inherent Vice $328,184653$8,110,975$14,806,83154.8%
Sep 14, 2012The Master $736,311864$16,247,159$29,044,33855.9%
Dec 26, 2007There Will Be Blood $190,7391,620$40,222,514$77,185,98352.1%
Oct 11, 2002Punch-Drunk Love $367,2031,293$17,791,031$24,591,03172.3%
Dec 17, 1999Magnolia $193,6041,086$22,450,975$48,446,76146.3%
Oct 10, 1997Boogie Nights $50,1681,003$26,410,771$43,111,72561.3%
Feb 28, 1997Hard Eight $69,48629$142,356$142,71599.7%
 
Averages $2,683,6201,263$24,754,843$53,883,61258.0%
Totals 9 $222,793,584$484,952,510