Why Sydney Sweeney’s Christy Flopped As Hard As It Did

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The boxing movie Christy premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and looked like a strong awards contender. It’s the type of well-made independent film that often gains attention during the early fall film festival season and generates Oscar buzz. The film features a dedicated performance by Sydney Sweeney, who physically transformed herself – gaining weight and changing her appearance – to play pioneering boxer Christy Martin. With a budget of $15 million, the movie was directed by acclaimed filmmaker David Michôd and follows a familiar pattern of actresses dramatically changing their looks for award-winning roles, like Nicole Kidman in The Hours, Charlize Theron in Monster, and Margot Robbie in I, Tonya. Many predicted Christy would be a critical and commercial hit, capitalizing on both the compelling story and the public’s interest in star Sydney Sweeney, who has a knack for attracting attention and whose recent film Anyone But You was a surprising success.

Black Bear, the production company behind films like The Imitation Game and Nyad, announced that it would distribute its new film, Christy. They planned a wide release on November 7th, with the film playing in over 2,000 theaters across the U.S. and Canada, hoping to capitalize on the start of awards season. However, Christy had a surprisingly poor opening weekend, earning just $1.3 million. This puts it among the worst-performing films ever to open on so many screens. The R-rated drama explores themes of redemption and the psychological impact of domestic violence, with Ben Foster playing the complex role of the husband and attempted murderer.

Sweeney recently shared on Instagram that she remains very proud of the film Christy, explaining they created it to make a difference, not just to attract viewers. She also attended the Governors Awards, a key event leading up to the Oscars, to promote it. However, industry experts are still confused by the film’s weak reception and its poor performance in theaters. Christy lost over 1,100 screens during its second weekend, effectively ending any hope of building momentum and becoming profitable.

This sports drama is part of a worrying pattern: many recent, critically-ambitious films with big stars—like Dwayne Johnson’s The Smashing Machine, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson’s Die My Love, Channing Tatum’s Roofman, and Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey—have performed poorly in theaters. However, the film’s failure to attract an audience wasn’t even its biggest problem.

Sources familiar with Black Bear’s strategy say the film Christy was ultimately a casualty of the current tough economic climate for independent movies, and company executives are now looking for someone to blame. A Hollywood agent with deep connections to the indie film scene explains that releasing smaller films has become incredibly difficult. Traditionally, they would start in a few theaters and gradually expand. However, Christy, like other independent films, was released on thousands of screens at once, putting it in direct competition with blockbusters like Avatar. This strategy fails because independent films can’t compete for screen time, which is a major threat to the entire indie film industry that isn’t being openly discussed.

Black Bear’s Teddy Schwarzman recently told Deadline what he hopes will happen with their new film, Christy – and explained why they’re releasing it in over 2,000 theaters. He acknowledged that their previous film, Smashing Machine, didn’t perform as well as hoped, but pointed out that Christy had a much smaller budget – around $15 million. Schwarzman said their financial risk is relatively low, and their main goal is to highlight Sydney Sweeney’s remarkable performance. He believes Sweeney’s physical and emotional transformation is award-worthy, and early reactions from audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival have been very positive.

The success of this release strategy hinges on the current state of movie theaters, which are still recovering from the pandemic and the 2023 Hollywood strikes that caused significant disruptions to film production. Because theaters are lacking new movies, a smaller film like Christy – which would normally gain traction through positive reviews and audience recommendations – was released in a surprisingly large number of theaters. Importantly, its performance was measured using the same financial benchmarks as blockbuster films from franchises like Marvel or big-budget movies like Universal’s Wicked.

According to Boxoffice Pro’s editorial director, Daniel Loria, Black Bear recognized a chance to secure a large number of screens and acted on it. He explains that they won’t find another opportunity to book 2,000 screens later in the year, especially with the upcoming release of Wicked. Once that film arrives, it will be nearly impossible for any independent movie to compete for that many screens. Loria questions whether a limited release strategy would have even been feasible, suggesting Black Bear might not have been able to reach that screen count any other way.

Black Bear invested $10 million in marketing their film Christy, a significant amount considering the movie’s low production cost. However, this effort wasn’t enough to overcome the overall struggles the movie industry was facing. October saw several high-profile films fail at the box office, including Disney’s Tron: Ares, the poorly-attended Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere biopic, and the musical adaptation Kiss of the Spider Woman. As a result, October experienced its lowest total box office revenue since 1997.

According to Loria, Christy didn’t seem like a movie destined for a wide release on over 2,000 screens. The film wasn’t initially intended for that kind of launch, but Black Bear recognized a potential market. Unfortunately, that opportunity didn’t succeed as hoped.

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2025-11-18 00:55