Sydney Sweeney’s newest movie is going to have to pick it up at the box office to avoid being labeled a flop.
Americana, which debuted nationwide in over 1,100 theaters last week, recorded a poor opening weekend at the box office, per The Hollywood Reporter. The Western-themed crime thriller only brought in an estimated $500,000, 16th-best overall among movies.
There’s obviously time for Americana to see its sales improve, but the low opening numbers shouldn’t be overly surprising, considering early reviews of the Tony Tost-directed film have been mixed, at best.
It took two years to bring the project to theaters after it premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival, but that didn’t mean fans were clamoring to see the movie.
Less than stellar feedback from moviegoers, critics
As of now, Americana is rated 67 on Rotten Tomatoes and a 61 on Metacritic. The professional reviews haven’t been stellar either.
Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film two stars out of four, and while he called Sweeney and costar Paul Walter Hauser “undeniably gifted performers,” Sobczynski’s overall take was not as generous.
“For the most part, however, “Americana” is a mess—a good-looking mess, to be sure, but a mess, nonetheless,” he wrote. “If you are looking for a quirky crime thriller set in the southwest, may I instead point you in the direction of “The Last Stop in Yuma County,” which contains just as many bizarro plot twists and violent showdowns as this film but deploys them with more wit and style. If you are a new member of Sydney Sweeney’s fanbase, I suggest you start catching up on “Euphoria” instead.”
Meanwhile, Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post was even harsher, giving the film only one star out of four.
“Sweeney plays Penny Jo, a shy South Dakota waitress who dreams of becoming a country singer but has a stammer,” Oleksinski wrote.
“We are supposed to accept that the constantly photographed Sweeney is a wallflower nobody pays any attention to. The actress’ fake speech impediment, meanwhile, comes off both rehearsed and not nearly rehearsed enough.”
Sweeney’s American Eagle controversy, explained
In the weeks leading up to the release of Americana, Sweeney was the subject of a major brouhaha involving her ad campaign with American Eagle.
The blonde-haired actress was featured in denim ads for the company, praising her “good jeans.” However, the ads did more than just play on words, making references to genetics that some deemed “tone-deaf” at best and “Nazi-like” propaganda at worst.
While Sweeney has generally kept quiet about the controversy, American Eagle released a statement attempting to clarify its intent.
“‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the statement said. “Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
