Sydney Sweeney’s New Movie Has One of the 10 Worst Box Office Openings of All Time

by

Sydney Sweeney is a well-known celebrity, but her ability to guarantee box office success hasn’t been established. Her latest film, released during awards season, needs strong reviews to perform well. Initial box office numbers suggest it won’t be a major financial success.

The new movie Christy tells the story of Christy Salters, a boxing legend who overcame a difficult upbringing in West Virginia – earning her the nickname “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” – to become a top female boxer. Actress Sydney Sweeney underwent a significant physical and dramatic transformation to play Salters, but the film had a disappointing start at the box office, earning just $1.3 million – placing it among the ten worst opening weekends in movie history (excluding re-releases).

To give you some context, Christy actually opened with lower box office numbers than several films now widely considered to be among the worst ever made. This includes horror films like The Empty Man (which also made $1.3 million on opening weekend), Bill Murray’s musical comedy Rock the Kasbah ($1.4M), Major League: Back to the Minors ($2M), Kyle Mooney’s 2024 horror comedy Y2K ($2.1M), the Max Steel movie ($2.18M), and Eddie Murphy’s notoriously bad sci-fi comedy The Adventures of Pluto Nash ($2.182M).

Sports Biopics Are Having A Bad Year (Even With Big Star Power)

The movie Christy is facing the same challenge as many sports biopics – difficulty attracting viewers. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s earlier film, The Smashing Machine, about MMA fighter Mark Kerr, earned only $20 million in theaters despite costing $50 million to make. Even for a company known for successful independent films like A24, that was considered a failure.

Black Bear Productions is aiming to build a strong brand by backing independent films with well-known actors. Recent examples include the Oscar-nominated Nyad starring Jodie Foster and Annette Bening, the action film A Working Man with Jason Statham, and the WWII movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare featuring Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, and Eiza González. While the studio has had both hits and misses, Christy appears to be one of the less successful projects. However, their horror film Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney, performed well, earning $35 million on a $9 million budget, and suggested Sweeney has the potential to become a major movie star.

Sydney Sweeney’s Movie Career Is Still Very Much Alive

Despite a weak start for the film Christy, Sydney Sweeney’s career is far from over – especially considering Madame Web didn’t hinder her either. Christy was designed to appeal to critics and awards voters, and its release timing was strategic for awards season. The film’s success wasn’t about how much money it made, but about getting Sydney Sweeney’s name recognized by awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Sydney Sweeney is transitioning from playing a boxer to starring in two major films hitting theaters soon. First, she’ll appear in the psychological thriller The Housemaid directed by Paul Feig, just before Christmas. Then, next year she’ll join Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada 2. These releases are perfectly timed with the peak of Sweeney’s popularity – she’s constantly making headlines with advertising campaigns, fashion choices, and interviews that quickly go viral. Because of her current level of fame, a single biopic wouldn’t be enough to diminish her success.

For what it’s worth, Christy is playing in theaters.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/sydney-sweeney-barbarella-reboot-update-good-news/embed/#

Read More

2025-11-10 21:12