Americana director Tony Tost defends movie after box office flop
Tony Tost believes that his movie Americana - which stars Sydney Sweeney - got "gobbled up the zeitgeist" as it has disappointed at the box office.
Tony Tost believes that Americana has been "gobbled up by the zeitgeist".
The 50-year-old filmmaker's picture - which stars Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser and Halsey - has tanked at the box office but he believes that it will be appreciated in the long-term.
Tost posted on social media platform X: "One of the great things about movies is that they outlive the zeitgeist into which they were released.
"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!"
Tost also shared a screenshot of his Letterboxd post when Americana was in post-production in 2022 as he explained how he hoped that audiences would discover the movie.
The Damnation creator added: "Even back then, I knew I was creating a 'hidden gem' type movie (as opposed to a blockbuster, or auteur masterpiece)."
Tost had hoped to follow a similar career path to legendary filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas by creating smaller gems to go with big blockbusters but admits that he may have to reconsider his approach after the underwhelming response to his directorial debut.
He wrote: "One picture in - I don't know if a minor gem career is feasible these days.
"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."
The movie was released just weeks after Sweeney's controversial American Eagle jeans advert generated a social media storm but her co-star Hauser said that Americana is his favourite movie from his career so far.
The 38-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter: "I don't know when a good time is to drop a movie like this.
"I just know - no matter whether it blows up, and it's the next Everything Everywhere All at Once, or if it comes and goes and makes $800K in theatres - 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 favourite movie in three years, and it'll be like what Reservoir Dogs was for me at their age."
Americana actually premiered at the SXSW festival back in 2023 and Hauser is delighted that it has finally arrived on the big screen.
The Black Bird star said: "Americana is legitimately my favourite movie I've ever made, which you can print. I'm not worried about any social blowback there.
"I just think it's wildly original, the script was so attractive. It was all about the writing, and Sydney Sweeney was just on the come up where everyone was starting to find out who she was because of The White Lotus and Euphoria.
"When we wrapped, we were told it would go to a festival. A year later, we had it at SXSW in Austin, and we got great reviews, so we were like, 'Oh, we're sitting pretty.' Then we were just sitting. There was no pretty. We were wondering what the hell happened."
