Sydney Sweeney’s Crime Thriller Tanks: Debuts With Record Low Despite 68% RT Score!

The new thriller Americana, written and directed by Tony Tost (known for Damnation), has made a disappointing splash at the U.S. box office. The film, set against the backdrop of a violent dispute in South Dakota over a precious ghost shirt, features an impressive cast including Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Toby Huss, Zahn McClarnon, Eric Dane, and Halsey.

Despite the presence of Sydney Sweeney, whose box office track record is mixed (her recent appearance in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movie Madame Web didn’t meet expectations), she recently enjoyed box office success with the 2023 romantic comedy Anyone But You, which earned $220.3 million on a $25 million budget.

According to Variety, as of Sunday morning, Americana is on track to finish its opening weekend at a dismal 16th place, earning just $500,000 across 1,110 theaters. This is among the poorest debuts for a film released in over 1,000 theaters.

Initially, the film was projected to earn around $840,000 in its opening weekend. However, it managed a mere $450 per-screen average, starkly lower than other high-profile flops like 2025’s Snow White ($10,049 per screen) and 2024’s The Crow ($1,687 per screen).

Implications for Americana

Should these $500,000 projections hold, Americana will have the 21st lowest-grossing opening weekend ever for a film in more than 1,000 theaters that wasn’t a re-release. Here’s a look at the bottom 10 opening weekends:

While Americana performed marginally better than some notorious flops like Juliet & Romeo and The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, its debut still fell short of other high-profile flops such as Delgo and Cats Don’t Dance.

However, it’s important to note that this does not necessarily categorize Americana as a flop. Distributed by Lionsgate in the U.S., the studio often mitigates financial risks through strategies like international pre-sales, acquiring films at low costs, and other tactics.

Moreover, in today’s film industry, the success of a movie often depends significantly on its performance in VOD and streaming markets, which can be more crucial for profitability than its theatrical release.

Our Perspective on the Americana Launch

There are several possible explanations for why Americana has had such a weak opening. Despite a solid 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s launch may have been affected by Sydney Sweeney’s recent controversial American Eagle advertisement, which has faced criticism for allegedly promoting white supremacy and eugenics. Additionally, the film’s release comes over two years after its premiere at SXSW in 2023, possibly leading to diminished public interest over time.