Americana has cratered at the box office during its opening weekend. The new crime movie was written and directed by Tony Tost (Damnation) and follows a violent confrontation in South Dakota over a valuable ghost shirt. It features a robust ensemble cast that includes Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Toby Huss, Zahn McClarnon, Eric Dane, and Halsey.
Although Sydney Sweeney movies are not guaranteed box office successes (one of her most recent theatrical outings was the notorious Sony’s Spider-Man Universe flop Madame Web), she is still relatively fresh off the success of the 2023 romantic comedy Anyone But You, a smash hit that grossed $220.3 million against its reported $25 million budget.
Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Americana is projected to conclude its debut weekend by landing at No. 16 on the domestic box office chart with a 3-day haul of just $500,000 from 1,110 theaters. This marks one of the worst opening weekends ever for a wide release that has opened in more than 1,000 theaters.
This is a significant drop from Americana‘s original debut projections as of Saturday, which anticipated an $840,000 debut. The movie has earned a per-screen average of just $454 during its domestic debut. To compare, the 2025 box office bomb Snow White debuted with a per-screen average of $10,049 while the notorious 2024 flop The Crow debuted with a $1,687 average.
What This Means For Americana
Overall, if its $500,000 projections hold by the end of Sunday, 2025’s Americana will have officially earned the 21st lowest-grossing domestic debut of all time for a movie that played in over 1,000 theaters and was not a re-release. Below, see a breakdown of the Bottom 10 тιтles on the chart:
|
тιтle |
Theaters |
Domestic Debut |
|---|---|---|
|
Call Jane (2022) |
1,068 |
$244,469 |
|
Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour (2007) |
1,121 |
$250,000 |
|
Transylmania (2009) |
1,007 |
$263,941 |
|
Juliet & Romeo (2025) |
1,350 |
$289.489 |
|
National Champions (2021) |
1,197 |
$301,028 |
|
Creature (2011) |
1,507 |
$327,000 |
|
Sweetwater (2023) |
1,204 |
$351,010 |
|
Rich Girl (1991) |
1,058 |
$368,056 |
|
Weekend in Taipei (2024) |
1,024 |
$380,057 |
|
Vanguard (2020) |
1,375 |
$280,428 |
While Americana has debuted better than some notorious bombs, such as Juliet & Romeo and The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (which is No. 17 with a $443,901 debut in 2,160 theaters), its $500,000 projections are lower than the debuts of other notable flops, including Delgo ($511,920 in 2,160 theaters) and Cats Don’t Dance ($939,781 in 1,252 theaters).
Our Take On The Americana Debut
There could be quite a few reasons why Americana has underperformed so severely, even though it has a solid 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes. One is that it arrives in the wake of Sydney Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle ad, which says that she has “great jeans” and has been accused of evoking themes of white supremacy and eugenics.
Another potential reason is that Americana was shelved for two years after its 2023 at SXSW, which may have led either advertisers, audiences, or both to be nervous about its quality. Its relatively small wide release would seem to indicate some trepidation about its ability to connect with audiences, though a gross this low could hardly have been predicted.
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