Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller “One Battle After Another” stormed to the top of the North American box office on its debut weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a retired radical fighter who is dragged back in to action to help his daughter, the film’s veering from the ridiculous to the deadly serious had audiences riveted.

The New York Times described the film as “a carnivalesque epic about good and evil, violence and power, inalienable rights and the fight against injustice.”

“One Battle After Another” took an estimated $22.4 million this weekend, according to industry group Exhibitor Relations, and has been generating early Oscar buzz for both director Anderson and lead DiCaprio.

“This is an excellent opening for an action thriller,” said a

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