The Sydney Sweeney-American Eagle controversy has perhaps taken a new turn, as it relates to the actor's latest film. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Americana, which premiered at SXSW two years ago, was generally well received by critics initially, although its Rotten Tomatoes rating currently stands at a middling 68%. The movie, starring Sweeney opposite Paul Walter Hauser and singer Halsey, bombed at the box office in its opening weekend, per THR, pulling in only about $500,000 at 1,123 theaters across the country.
The Hill asks the big question: "Did Sweeney's controversial ads play a role in the film's less-than-stellar opening?" Deadline offers a comprehensive, more nuanced answer, disputing the use of the word "bomb" to describe how the movie is doing—especially because the film was never meant to be a summer blockbuster and is still expected to turn a profit for Lionsgate.
"[For] indie movies from burgeoning filmmakers, which often have their biggest days at a film festival versus a coast-to-coast big screen release ... even if their ticket sales come up as lackluster, it's not a big whoop," the outlet notes. "Such titles set the table for a director's future, [grander] endeavors." For comparison purposes, Deadline points out that Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs earned just $147,000 during its own opening, though the director went on to win two screenplay Oscars after that, for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. (Even President Trump has weighed in on SweeneyGate.)
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