Sydney Sweeney's 'Americana' Bombs as Spike Lee's 'Highest 2 Lowest' Soars in Limited Release

'Americana' is in more theaters than 'Highest 2 Lowest,' yet the latter is doing better.

August 17, 2025

Sydney Sweeney's 'Americana' Bombs as Spike Lee's 'Highest 2 Lowest' Soars in Limited Release

Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Lionsgate | Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Sydney Sweeney’s Americana is underperforming, to put it mildly, in its nationwide rollout.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Lionsgate title, co-starring Paul Walter Hauser and Halsey, is expected to earn around $840,000 from 1,100 theaters, translating to a $460 per-theater average and an estimated 16th-place finish.

The crime-heist film first premiered at SXSW 2023 and took more than two years to reach theaters, despite being well-received by critics. For searchers tracking Sydney Sweeney at the box office, those figures set a low bar compared to other new and holdover releases.

By contrast, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest is charting a stronger path on a much smaller footprint. Backed by Apple Original Films, with A24 handling distribution, the film is currently in approximately 220 theaters and is projected to gross around $894,000 this weekend.

That puts its per-location average near $4,062 and its total above Americana’s weekend estimate despite playing in a fraction of the venues. The rollout is a traditional limited launch ahead of a relatively quick arrival on Apple TV+, giving the title both theatrical momentum and a near-term streaming window.

Elsewhere, the broader box office is being driven by a horror holdover and two studio crowd-pleasers. Weapons is poised to remain No. 1 in its second weekend with as much as $25 million, a 42% drop that keeps its run strong; its projected per-theater average is north of $7,200 across 3,450 cinemas. Freakier Friday remains steady in its sophomore frame, with an estimated $14–$15 million and an average of around $4,000 in 3,975 locations.

Among new openers, Nobody 2 is targeting third place domestically with about $9.4 million and a B+ CinemaScore (its Rotten Tomatoes audience score sits at 92%).

For context, the first Nobody opened to $6.8 million during the pandemic and went on to gross $68 million domestically. Universal is expected to lean on its established playbook by moving the sequel to PVOD as early as three weeks after its theatrical debut.