Tony Tost’s Americana, starring Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, and Eric Dane, among others, has seen shocking box office numbers, but the director stands by his movie. Sweeney’s new crime thriller also lost its perfect Rotten Tomatoes score ahead of its release, and now stands at a critical approval rating of 68%.

The dark comedy Western revolves around a group of people all fighting to acquire a Native American artifact, and opened in more than 1,000 movie theaters — a limited release compared to today’s biggest blockbusters. However, people were still shocked when Americana brought in a record-low $500,000 domestically from its opening weekend.

Most reports have noted that Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Jeans ad controversy likely had some effect on the movie’s performance, as she is undoubtedly the movie’s headliner. Director Tost alluded to but didn’t directly address this when he said via X that Americana was “gobbled up by the zeitgeist.“ Check out Tost’s post below:

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Tost also shared, via X, a screensH๏τ of a Letterboxd post from 2022, commenting that he always expected Americana to be a “hidden gem” movie. Tost argues that Americana‘s box office is due to it not being the right moment or the right kind of movie, and Lionsgate will still profit from it through other distribution deals.

What Tony Tost’s Comments Mean For Americana

Tost sounds fairly confident in Americana‘s future cult classic status, and it could find its footing on streaming, where people can readily watch it for “free” out of simple curiosity. Even during the off-season for major theatrical releases, the movie has found itself with some strong compeтιтion from тιтles like Weapons or even Nobody 2.

Lionsgate was never counting on this to be a huge earner, and the zeitgeist’s attention could be elsewhere with the explosion of fantastic horror. One of the stars, Paul Walter Hauser, said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he also expects Americana to make a comeback somewhere down the line:

[…] it’s still going to be one of these movies that will have long-term success. I know people are going to stumble upon it, and it’ll become some 13-year-old’s favorite movie in three years, and it’ll be like what Reservoir Dogs was for me at their age.

Our Take On The Director’s Explanation Of Americana’s Box Office Flop

I wouldn’t be so sure that this movie will ever escape its negative first impression. Americana‘s budget was $9 million (per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline), but Lionsgate only paid $3 million for it; the company that actually made it, Bron Studios, filed for bankruptcy in 2023. By the usual metrics that a movie needs to make 2.5 times its budget to break even, Americana is certainly a flop.

I think it could get a lot of attention on streaming, but this will probably be short-lived. Americana truly cementing itself as a “hidden gem” will take a lot more genuine quality, or so-bad-its-good-ness, to become a staple of pop culture. At the end of the day, I seriously doubt it has what it takes to live up to the status of Reservoir Dogs.