Leonardo DiCaprio says movie theaters risk becoming relics of the past after his new movie hits streaming

Leonardo DiCaprio is worried about the future of going to the movies, wondering in an interview after his new movie hit streaming whether “people still have the appetite” to see feature films in theaters. He also pondered the possibility of them “becoming silos, like jazz bars?”, reports Variety magazine.

“It's changing at lightning speed,” DiCaprio said of the film industry in an interview with British newspaper The Times. “We're witnessing a huge transition. First, documentaries disappeared from cinemas. Now dramas only get limited screen time and people are waiting to see them on streaming platforms. I don't know,” he explained.

But DiCaprio said that no matter how things turn out, he hopes that future actors and directors will have the chance to see their work projected on the big screen.

“I just hope that enough people who are true visionaries get opportunities to do unique things in the future that will be seen in theaters. But whether that will happen remains to be seen,” said the 51-year-old actor, who recently explained why he has no plans to ever direct a film.

Variety recalls that DiCaprio, awarded with an Oscar in 2016 for the dramatic western The Revenantis a staunch defender of “integrity” in cinema. In another recent interview he harshly criticized the use of artificial intelligence for films, saying that this technology is “dehumanized” and therefore cannot be considered authentic art.

Leonardo DiCaprio's new movie is streaming on HBO Max

The actor's interview with The Times comes after his new film, One Battle After Another (One Fight After Another) appeared in streaming last month on the HBO Max platform, the same day it was released in theaters Fire and ashesthe third film Avatars James Cameron's.

One Battle After Another, which was released on streaming after it premiered in cinemas at the end of September, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a former revolutionary on the run and a top cast that includes Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Wood Harris, Shayna McHayle or Chase Infiniti.

Although its story was kept completely under wraps until months before its theatrical release at the end of September, the name One Battle After Another was on every list compiled by the Hollywood press at the beginning of 2025 regarding the most anticipated films of the year.

In addition to the impressive cast, critics were excited about the fact that it is a film by American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, who has no less than 11 Academy Award nominations as a director, producer or screenwriter, thanks to films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread or Licorice Pizza. Even if he drew the short draw every time, his vintage film There Will Be Blood since 2007 it is considered one of the best of the 21st century.

The film earned the actor another Golden Globe nomination

The feature film was released to streaming after the nominations for the Golden Globes, Hollywood's first big awards show since 2026, were revealed earlier this month, and One Battle After Another received the most – 8.

In addition to being nominated for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, it earned nominations for Best Director, Best Actor (DiCaprio), Best Actress (Chase Infiniti), and Best Supporting Actor for Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, and Teyana Taylor. It also received nominations for Anderson's screenplay and Jonny Greenwood's score.

The 2026 Golden Globes Gala, which in many years indicates the favorites at the Oscar Awards, will take place on January 11, at 8:00 PM on the East Coast of the USA, January 12 at 03:00 Romanian time.

Although adored by critics, One Battle After Another struggled at the box office: grossing over $200 million, but cost more than $130 million to produce and another million in marketing. It currently has an approval rating of 95% from film critics and 85% from the general public on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. On IMDb it has an average rating of 7.9 / 10 from over 200,000 ratings.