Sydney Sweeney has shrugged off the historically poor US box office performance of Christy, the R-rated biographical drama in which she plays trailblazing boxer Christy Martin. The film, directed by David Michôd, opened to $1.3m over the weekend, one of the worst starts ever for a movie opening in more than 2,000 theatres.
In a post on Instagram, Sweeney said: “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.” The actor, best known for roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus, highlighted the film’s handling of domestic violence, saying it “stands for survival, courage, and hope”.
The film chronicles Martin’s rise from the daughter of a West Virginia coal miner to one of the most prominent female boxers in the US in the 1990s, and depicts the physical abuse she suffered from her coach-turned-husband, culminating in an attempt on her life. Co-starring Ben Foster, Merritt Wever and Katy O’Brian, Christy has received mixed reviews, with some critics praising Sweeney’s two-decade portrayal as worthy of award consideration, while others, including the Guardian’s Benjamin Lee, called it “a by-the-numbers slog”.
Christy was the first theatrical release from Black Bear, an indie company that produced the film for $15m. It is the latest commercial disappointment for Sweeney, following Eden and Americana, which both fizzled at the box office this summer. The film also reflects a wider struggle for adult-oriented dramas to connect with theatrical audiences, echoing the underperformance of titles such as Die, My Love and Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Sweeney, who previously led romantic comedy Anyone But You to $220m worldwide, will next appear in The Housemaid, a psychological thriller directed by Paul Feig, due for US release on 19 December.
