It’s been a good weekend for “Predator: Badlands” at the box office, but quite the opposite for “Christy,” the new inspirational boxing film starring one of social media’s most hotly discussed actors, Sydney Sweeney.
Released in 2,011 theaters, “Christy” grossed only $1.3 million for a per-theater average of just $649. According to Box Office Mojo, it ranks among the top 10 worst openings for a new release on more than 2,000 screens, with three of the films below it being released during the pandemic period from April 2020 to May 2021.
“Christy” stars Sweeney as Christy Martin, who in the 90s became the winner of the first women’s boxing pay-per-view main event and the first true female superstar in the sport. In 2010, she survived a murder attempt by her former coach and husband and has since become an advocate for survivors of domestic violence.
It is the first film distributed in the U.S. by Black Bear Pictures, the production studio behind films like “The Imitation Game,” “Mudbound” and “Sing Sing.” Along with production and sales, Black Bear began wading into film distribution in 2023 by handling the U.K. release of films like “Dumb Money” and “Conclave.”
Critics’ reviews for “Christy” have skewed positive but haven’t been exceptional with a 66% Rotten Tomatoes score. And while Sweeney herself is still riding the wave of fame from her breakout movies “Anyone But You” and “Immaculate,” that hasn’t translated to any interest in her latest film.
Nor has her recent press tour for “Christy” moved the needle, instead drawing the conversation around Sweeney towards other topics. In her cover story interview with GQ released this past Tuesday, it’s noted that Sweeney has dodged questions throughout the press tour regarding her jeans ad for American Eagle that came with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
The ad angered some on TikTok, drawing accusations that the campaign had a pro-eugenics undertone. The Trump Administration only added fuel to the fire when it came to Sweeney’s defense on social media.
After a discussion of “Christy” with GQ, Sweeney briefly talked about the ad and its reaction, calling the White House’s defense of her “surreal” but noting that she had largely ignored the social media furor as she was filming the third season of HBO’s “Euphoria” at the time and did not bring her phone on set.
“I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life,” she said.
It was a brief comment in a long interview in which she talked extensively about “Christy,” but it was the only comment from the GQ interview that got any traction on social media. It was similar to a recent interview Adam Driver did with the Associated Press for the New York Film Festival premiere of Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” in which the only portion that got significant attention on social media was Driver discussing a rejected pitch for a “Star Wars” film that he brought to Disney with Steven Soderbergh.
Between a lack of major studio support and substantial word-of-mouth as well as its lead star beingunable to steer the public conversation around her to her work rather than her perceived place in the culture war, “Christy” is being left by the wayside in what is shaping up to be a very competitive end-of-year theatrical marketplace.
As for Sweeney, she will likely have better box office results with Lionsgate’s upcoming thriller “The Housemaid,” which hits theaters this December. She will also appear in the upcoming sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada,” due out this May.
