Controversial Interview Fallout: Sydney Sweeney’s Christy Hits Career-Low Box Office
Sydney Sweeney’s 2025 biopic Christy took a bruising at the box office, logging the weakest opening of her career as the Christy Martin drama struggled to land a knockout with moviegoers.
Rough weekend for Sydney Sweeney. Her boxing biopic 'Christy' stumbled out of the gate, and the timing is... not great.
The numbers (and they are not pretty)
'Christy' — based on the life and career of trailblazing boxer Christy Martin — opened to just $1.3 million on day one at the domestic box office. A post from the Culture Crave account on November 9, 2025 called it one of the top 10 worst opening weekends ever for a movie playing in over 2,000 theaters, with a per-theater average hovering around $646. For a quick comparison point, Dwayne Johnson's 'The Smashing Machine' opened at $5.8 million, per Box Office Mojo.
The backdrop: a GQ interview and an ad controversy
Three days before 'Christy' hit theaters (the interview went live November 4), Sweeney sat down with GQ and was pressed about the blowback to American Eagle's 'Great Jeans' ad. She was also asked if that controversy might ding the movie's box office. Her answer was firm:
'No. No, I think that if somebody is closed off because of something they read online to a powerful story like Christy, then I hope that something else can open their eyes to being open to art and being open to learning, and I'm not going to be affected by that.'
She also said, more broadly, that when she has something she wants to speak on, people will hear it. That line was part of a larger exchange touching on whether white people should joke about genetic superiority — a messy, highly charged topic that helped fuel the backlash. The reaction has been loud enough that you can fairly say there are thousands of people protesting Sweeney online right now.
So did all that chatter hurt 'Christy'?
Correlation is not causation, but the timing makes it hard to ignore. Early audience/critic signals are middling, and the box office is, well, the box office. That said, we are at the very start of the run, so word of mouth still has a chance to do something.
'Christy' at a glance
- Directed by: David Michod
- Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever
- Based on: The life and boxing career of Christy Martin
- US release date: November 7, 2025
- Opening day (domestic): $1.3 million
- Per-theater average: About $646 (per Culture Crave)
- Worst-opening stat: Labeled a top 10 worst opening weekend ever for a 2,000+ theater release (per Culture Crave)
- Current worldwide total: $1.3 million (ongoing)
- IMDb: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
- Production company: Black Bear Pictures
- Benchmark comparison: 'The Smashing Machine' opened at $5.8 million (Box Office Mojo)
Bottom line
Whether Sweeney believes it or not, the early numbers suggest the controversy may be brushing up against 'Christy' at the worst possible moment. We will see if the story finds its audience over the next couple of weeks. 'Christy' is currently screening in theaters in the US.
Thoughts? Is this purely a marketing/distribution miss, or did the offscreen noise actually move the needle? Drop your take below.