"One Battle After Another" Trailer: Leonardo DiCaprio Is a Washed-Up Radical on the Run in Paul Thomas Anderson's Explosive New Satire

DiCaprio stars as a fading militant on the run in PTA’s political black comedy, blending counterculture chaos with heartfelt family drama in one of the year’s most anticipated films.

Did you know that filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson originally offered Leonardo DiCaprio the role of 70s porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights?

DiCaprio loved the script but had to turn down the offer because he was about to head off to do another movie project. Still, he didn’t leave PTA hanging. DiCaprio suggested that Mark Wahlberg would be perfect for the role, having just worked with him on the 1995 drug addiction drama The Basketball Diaries. PTA agreed, and the rest is movie history. Boogie Nights became a career-defining moment for Wahlberg, helping him shed his model-turned-rapper image once and for all.

Oh, and the movie DiCaprio ended up doing instead of Boogie Nights? Well, it was a little film called Titanic—you may have heard of it. It catapulted DiCaprio into the stratosphere and made him one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Guess it all worked out in the end.

Now, fast forward 28 years, and Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio have finally found a project to collaborate on. While it’s far from Dirk Diggler, it’s certainly a role we’ve never seen DiCaprio play before: an ex-militant radical struggling to hold on to his anti-establishment ideals while attempting to be a father to his teenage daughter.

Said to be loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland, One Battle After Another is a black comedy where DiCaprio takes on the lead role of Bob Ferguson, an underground revolutionary forced to go on the run after the American military, led by a go-for-broke corporal named Steven Lockjaw (played by Sean Penn), raids his house and uncovers his stash of secrets.

Pynchon's novel, for which the film is loosely based, was set in the mid-1980s against the Ronald Reagan administration, revolving around a group of 1970s radicals during a transitional period where American society was becoming more conservative, leaving behind its countercultural attitude.

However, PTA's new film appears to be set in the early 2000s, perhaps around the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Not sure yet, as the details of this film have been tightly wrapped up.

Here's what we do know: DiCaprio's Bob Ferguson appears to be a militant radical who was part of the French '75 but may never have been a full believer, as indicated in this newly-released trailer (watch it above). He's having a difficult time remembering certain passwords while he finds himself on the run.

“Maybe you should've studied the rebellion text a little harder,” a mysterious voice on the other side of a phone call scorns Bob as he desperately calls for help to get out of town.

It looks like Bob is trying to secure a safe place so he can reunite with his teen daughter (played by newcomer Chase Infiniti), who appears to be someone raised on the same radical ideology and training as her parents.

Speaking of which, dancer-turned-actress Teyana Taylor (A Thousand and One) plays Bob's better half, a militant radical who, even while pregnant with their child, didn't stop her from conducting gun training sessions.

Benicio Del Toro costars here as someone Bob calls “Sensei.” Perhaps a reference to him being Bob's mentor during his time in the French '75.

Del Toro is likely playing an old revolutionary rebel who finds himself also needing to get out of town, as the mighty American military has come to destroy the remnants of the French '75.

Rounding out the cast are Regina Hall (Black Monday), Wood Harris (Creed), Shayna McHayle (aka rapper Junglepussy), and Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza).

Produced by Oscar and BAFTA nominees Adam Somner and Sara Murphy, with Will Weiske executive producing, while director of photography Michael Bauman (Licorice Pizza) works the camera, with PTA also collaborating on the cinematography.

Musician Jonny Greenwood, PTA's long-time music collaborator, is back to score the film as well.

One Battle After Another is currently slated to open in theaters and IMAX nationwide on September 26th, via Warner Bros. Pictures.

No word yet on whether the film will screen at any of the big festivals —like Cannes or TIFF — this year before its theatrical release. But we wouldn’t rule that out, just yet.