SNL Gives Kids What They Really Want: One Battle After Another Action Figures
Paul Thomas Anderson is a prestigious filmmaker, beloved by critics and routinely acknowledged by the Academy (he's racked up 14 Oscar nominations with zero wins). He isn't known for churning out box office hits. But last year he released his highest-grossing movie so far: the darkly comedic revolutionary thriller "One Battle After Another," which made over $200 million worldwide. The $130 million production budget means it was still technically a box office bomb, but could this be the start of PTA's pivot into mainstream commercial success?
The possibility of Paul Thomas Anderson tie-in merch was explored in this weekend's episode of "Saturday Night Live" with a sketch featuring action figures from "One Battle After Another." The pre-recorded sketch features guest host Teyonah Parris, who stars in the film as fiery revolutionary figurehead Perfidia Beverly Hills, and whose action figure boasts a "snap-on pregnant belly." You know, for kids!
Check out the sketch above, though be warned that you may come away from it desperate to buy a Sensei Sergio action figure of your very own.
The devil works hard but Saturday Night Live's props department works harder
Credit is due to the child actors who make this toy commercial skit work, enthusiastically delivering lines like, "Take that, pig!" and, "Do you like Black girls? 'Cause I love 'em! I LOVE 'EM!!" Sure, the gag of inappropriate children's toy commercials has been done before (see also: "Depression Barbie" and the end credits of "22 Jump Street"), but the schtick hasn't gotten old yet.
As is often the case, though, the real star of the show is the tireless Property Department at "Saturday Night Live," whose action figure renditions of Sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio del Toro), Perfidia Beverly Hills, and Leonardo DiCaprio's be-robed former revolutionary Bob all bear impressively carved likenesses. Let's face it: a lot of Paul Thomas Anderson fans would buy these if they were actually available. And they wouldn't even be the weirdest movie merch we've seen — not in a world where the "Dune" popcorn bucket exists.