Sydney Sweeney’s newest movie, “Christy,” suffered one of many worst opening weekends for a brand new film launched “wide” — on greater than 2,000 theaters — up to now 20 years, and business analysts, the movie’s studio and Sweeney herself are left to marvel why it failed so miserably.
In spite of everything, Sweeney is without doubt one of the most well-known and hyped younger actors working proper now. “Christy,” wherein she stars as Corridor of Fame boxer Christy Martin, was imagined to showcase her appearing skills and possibly garner her an Academy Award nomination. However, audiences clearly weren’t .
Over on r/boxoffice, a sub-Reddit group targeted on discussions about motion pictures’ box-office efficiency, some individuals mentioned the distributor didn’t do sufficient to advertise “Christy,” which solely earned $1.3 million over the weekend. Others mentioned audiences simply don’t look after gritty sports activities biopics about troubled fighters, as additionally proven by the underwhelming field workplace for Dwayne Johnson’s “The Smashing Machine,” despite the fact that Johnson normally delivers box-office hits and acquired popularity of his efficiency.
Others say Sweeney has been too over-exposed, or that her staff has tried too laborious to advertise her as a buxom intercourse image, as an alternative of a critical actress, by having her hawk cleaning soap made along with her tub water or pose for a “Lolita”-inspired picture shoot. Nonetheless others say that indie motion pictures or mid-level grownup dramas simply don’t generate profits like they used to, or that the Emmy-nominated “Euphoria” star has by no means actually been a box-office draw. That is her third, straight box-office disappointment of 2025.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 01: A window show of actress Sydney Sweeney is seen on a window of an American Eagle retailer on August 01, 2025 in New York Metropolis. American Eagle’s latest denim advert marketing campaign that includes Sweeney has drawn backlash for language and imagery that critics say echoes eugenics-era rhetoric, following a tagline referencing “great genes” alongside visuals of Sweeney in blue denims. (Photograph by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Photographs)
However a lot dialogue has targeted on Sweeney’s participation this previous summer time in a controversial advert for American Eagle denims — and whether or not that made her “toxic” to a section of movie-going audiences.
The advert was criticized for utilizing the slogan, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” which appeared to play on the concept that the white, blond, blue-eyed actress has “great genes,” Yahoo reported. Each she and the advert have been accused of selling language round eugenics and racial superiority. As Sweeney was attacked by individuals on the left aspect of the political aisle, she grew to become a darling of the best, with President Donald Trump taking to social media to reward and defend her — particularly after he heard she was a registered Republican.
It seems that Sweeney didn’t do herself — and probably, “Christy” — any favors by attempting to sidestep the controversy, whereas doing press for the film.
In a canopy for GQ journal, the author, Katherine Stoeffel, gave Sweeney a number of possibilities to reply to the controversy, in keeping with Yahoo and to clips of the interview posted on X. When Stoeffel mentioned that, in immediately’s political local weather, white individuals joking about genetic superiority could possibly be thought of offensive, Sweeney replied, “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
To some potential “Christy” viewers, Sweeney’s response seemed like a refusal to denounce the racist studying of the advert, Yahoo reported. She additionally mentioned she didn’t have time to give attention to the controversy as a result of she had been busy engaged on the upcoming season of “Euphoria.” She insisted that the message of the advert was nearly denim and self-confidence, not about the rest. She mentioned, “I mean, the reaction was definitely 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.”
This picture launched by Black Bear exhibits Sydney Sweeney in a scene from “Christy.” (Eddy Chen/Black Bear through AP)
Sweeney’s reluctance to deal with individuals’s issues in regards to the advert’s racist studying dissatisfied followers, in keeping with one individual within the r/boxoffice sub-Reddit. “Sydney in the past has been pro-BLM, pro-LGBTQ, pro-choice/pro-planned parenthood,” the individual mentioned. “So her being a registered Republican who refuses to push back on Trump’s praise for her alienated a lot of her fans — who are now being vocal about how disgusted they are with her.”
One other individual mentioned they don’t care about an individual’s political affiliation however “plenty of Sweeney’s female fans and LGBTQ fans are grossed out.” The individual continued: “The MAGA crowd insisted she would now be a huge box-office draw. It didn’t work. All 3 movies she was in that came out after Trump praised her for being Republican have now flopped. In short, her female fans and LGBTQ fans feel that she sold them out in order to pander to MAGA dudes who think women exist just to be sex objects and have babies.”
Sweeney’s choice to “smugly blow off” questions from the GQ reporter, could not have precipitated “Christy” to bomb, one other individual mentioned. “But IMO she has done some legit damage to her image and appeal and when your movie is already an uphill battle, that doesn’t help.”
A number of individuals identified that “Christy” was an indie movie with a “niche” enchantment. It tells the story of Christy Martin’s ascension to fame within the Nineties as she turns into one among America’s first well-known feminine boxers, in addition to how she needed to escape an abusive marriage to her trainer-turned-husband. Selection’s Owen Gleiberman praised “Christy” as “a powerfully compelling and unusual boxing biopic,” for which Sweeney provides “a potent, true-note, game-changing knockout of a performance.” Different opinions have been extra combined, and it solely holds a 67% Rotten Tomatoes ranking from some 130 critics.
Folks on the r/boxoffice sub-Reddit identified that audiences for indie motion pictures are usually left-leaning, city dwellers. “Whoever Sydney Sweeney is trying to pander to do not care to buy tickets of her films,” one individual mentioned. “They simply worship her on social media.
To Redditors, Sweeney’s subsequent box-office check is available in December with the psychological thriller, “The Housemaid.” Directed by Paul Feig, it additionally stars Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, and will flip issues round for Sweeney, particularly provided that the film relies on the best-selling novel of the identical identify.
In the meantime, Sweeney shrugged off “Christy’s” failure to attach with theater audiences this previous week. “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact,” she mentioned in a prolonged Instagram message to her 2.5 million followers “And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.”
