Sydney Sweeney’s Americana director responds to ‘flop’ claims amid American Eagle ad controversy: ‘Got gobbled up by the Zeitgeist’

Sydney Sweeney’s Americana director defends the movie

The story of Americana follows a young aspiring country singer working as a waitress, played by Sweeney, and a military veteran (Hauser). The two get caught in a messy fight over a rare Native American artifact and get chased down by criminals working for an antiquities dealer. The movie, though small in scale, drew praise from critics at its premiere, but when it opened last weekend across more than 1,100 theatres, it barely managed $500,000. American tabloids declared the movie a flop, and social media reactions followed.  Instead of focusing on the film and where it fell short, most of the conversation turned to Sweeney’s off-screen controversies, from the bathwater soap stunt to accusations of pushing Nazi propaganda and so on.

On social media, Tost admitted he was frustrated that his movie was overshadowed by the controversies dominating the cultural conversation.“One of the great things about movies is that they outlive the zeitgeist into which they were released,” Tost posted on his X account on Friday. However, despite the scrutiny and lukewarm reception, he remains positive. He wrote that movies live on beyond the moment they’re released and said he’d be curious to see how Americana holds up once this heated moment passes. “As someone whose first film sorta got gobbled up by the zeitgeist, I’ll be curious to see how it’ll stand up after this moment is over. Hopefully fairly well!”

Also read: Amid ‘Sydney Sweeney has great jeans’ ad row, looking at 7 instances from Hollywood and Bollywood when celebrity ads created drama

Tost also revealed that from the start of post-production, he knew Americana wasn’t a blockbuster but a hidden gem. In his follow-up post, the director said, “Even back then, I knew I was creating a ‘hidden gem’ type movie (as opposed to a blockbuster, or auteur masterpiece).” He even compared his ambitions to the careers of Spielberg and Lucas, who started with small but beloved films like Sugarland Express and American Graffiti before making big hits like Jaws and Star Wars. But now he seemed to be reconsidering his plans, saying he is not sure if minor gems will even work these days or if he’ll have to go big. “One picture in — I don’t know if a minor gem career is feasible these days,” Tost wrote. “I think I’ve got to swing either bigger or smaller. Excited for people to find Americana in the days/weeks/months/years to come. But also trying to internalise the many lessons learned from swing #1.”

Despite the weak box office, Paul Walter Hauser also defended the movie. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he called Americana his favourite movie he’s ever done. Hauser said he doesn’t care whether the movie will become the next cult classic or fizzle out under millions,  he believes the film will find its audience over time.

Sweeney, meanwhile, has stayed tight-lipped about the whole situation. The actor recently sat down with WSJ and spoke about her work, but carefully avoided the American Eagle controversy. The Euphoria star had fronted the brand’s jeans campaign, where the tagline played on the words “good genes” and “Good jeans.” Critics slammed it for promoting eugenics, and the backlash blew up so much that President Trump and even VP J.D. Vance jumped in to defend her, calling the outrage an overreaction from the left. Sweeney has long carried a reputation for controversy, tied both to her public stance and her registered Republican status. Earlier this year, she also rolled out a questionable soap collab with Dr. Squatch, marketed as if it contained her bathwater.

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