[4][5] The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman and Tony Hale.

Mike Howell is a stoner who lives in the sleepy town of Liman, West Virginia, where he works as a convenience store clerk.

When pressed for answers on her knowledge of the gas, Phoebe reluctantly reveals she was a CIA agent assigned to be Mike's handler, leaving him heartbroken.

Petey calls off the drone strike at the last minute, then secretly reports the situation to Yates' superior, Raymond Krueger.

He attacks the store, killing or incapacitating multiple Toughguys before fighting and defeating Laugher, whom he spares when Mike learns he is a mentally unbalanced man forcibly conscripted by Yates.

She points out that, by taking out seventeen Toughguys, Mike is proof of the success of the Wiseman program and a potentially valuable asset.

Writer Max Landis was inspired by a top secret CIA program from the 1950s code named "MKUltra," which conducted experiments on humans to develop superior agents through various mind control techniques.

On November 4, 2013, it was announced that Eisenberg and Stewart were on board the project, having previously starred together in the film Adventureland.

[8] Nourizadeh and director of photography Michael Bonvillain emphasized wide shots, and allowed the actors move around the set, with two cameras running to get coverage.

[18] The "Apollo Ape" artwork was created by John Martel, a self-taught artist from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

[27] To promote the film at Comic-Con, Lionsgate created a website offering free Marijuana to people with existing prescriptions.

[35][36] American Ultra grossed $14,439,985 in North America and $15,855,091 in other territories for a worldwide total of $30,295,076, against a budget of $28 million.

American Ultra was also beaten by the critically reviled Hitman Agent 47 and Sinister, despite being a better reviewed film than either, which leads me to a bit of a conundrum: Why?

Is trying to make original movies in a big way just not a valid career path anymore for anyone but Tarantino and Nolan?

"[42] In an interview with RedLetterMedia, Landis elaborated on his comments, and further discussed the difficulties of making a film not based on existing intellectual property and what he considered a misleading marketing campaign.

The site's critical consensus reads: "American Ultra has some interesting ideas, but like its stoned protagonist, it's too easily distracted to live up to its true potential.

[35][46] Mark Kermode of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, stating: "Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart brave and anarchic mish-mash with lots of violence but few laughs.

"[48] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded the film two of four stars: "Soon the movie's twisty charm gives way to gory splatter.

"[49] Neil Genzlinger from The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, ending with: "A lot of it seems familiar, and Mr. Eisenberg and Ms. Stewart aren't stretched much.

But Mike finds amusing ways to defend himself using ordinary household items, Walton Goggins and John Leguizamo enliven things in goofy small roles, the plot has a nice twist or two, and your theater is probably air-conditioned.

"[50] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter had mixed opinions of the film, calling it uneven and "A genre mash that's mildly amusing until it can't think of anything else to do besides flop around in the deep end of conspicuous gore."

Barker concludes, "Only at the end, with completely off-the-wall animated closing credits that embrace the film's latent surreality, do we finally get a glimpse of what American Ultra has been aching to become.