GOP Darling Sydney Sweeney’s New Film, ‘Christy,’ Among Worst Box Office Openings Ever

Sydney Sweeney’s latest film, “Christy,” has been dealt a knockout blow at the box office, marking one of the worst ever opening weekends ever for a new release. The inspirational boxing film, starring the actress who has become a favorite of the MAGA crowd, grossed a mere $1.3 million despite being released in more than 2,000 theaters nationwide. This resulted in a dismal per-theater average of just $649, landing it as the 12th worst opening for a film on such a wide scale, according to a report by Box Office Mojo. The report noted that “three of the films below it” on the list “were released during the pandemic period from April 2020 to May 2021,” highlighting the severity of “Christy’s” commercial failure.The film’s poor performance comes even as Ms. Sweeney remains a hot topic in the culture war. The actress, known for her star-turning role in 2019’s “Euphoria,” drew the attention of conservatives after an American Eagle ad campaign earlier this year word-played “jeans” and “genes” in the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” sparking outrage from some on the far-left who perceived it as a nod to “genetic superiority.”When it was later confirmed Ms. Sweeney is a registered Republican, conservative pundits celebrated. MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson declared on Fox News that Sweeney “put the final nail in the coffin of woke” and suggested a future political ticket: “Vance-Sweeney 2028.”President Trump also weighed in on the ad. After a reporter informed him of Ms. Sweeney’s political affiliation, Mr. Trump joked, “Oh, now I love her ad!… If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”The political fervor failed to translate into ticket sales this weekend. In “Christy,” Ms. Sweeney portrays Christy Martin, a domestic abuse survivor who became a world champion boxer. Despite Ms. Sweeney’s dedication to the role—reportedly gaining 35 pounds to build a boxer’s physique—and a generally positive critic score of 67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences stayed away.Some reviews about the 135-minute film were particularly brutal. “Sydney Sweeney’s Oscar Bait swing is a big miss,” Mashable wrote. “A contradiction at the heart of Christy is that Sweeney is the main reason anyone is paying attention to the project, but her own high-profile celebrity makes it difficult to believe her as the character,” wrote the BBC, which experienced its own political shockwaves this weekend after two top executives resigned over editorial bias in a documentary about Mr. Trump.The Daily Beast was even more harsh. “There’s familiar, there’s formulaic, and then there’s Christy,” the Beast wrote, noting it’s “so rote that even an A.I. wouldn’t dare try to pass it off as original.”“That Sweeney, like Charlize Theron before her, tones down her movie-star looks to embody a violent and battered working-class woman who’s victimized by intolerant societal standards merely underscores the Hollywood machinery at play here,” wrote the Beast.With a reported production budget of between $30 million and $40 million and a worldwide marketing budget of at least $75 million, “Christy” could rank as one of Hollywood studio’s biggest losses unless international audiences and streaming deals can recoup the difference.

GOP Darling Sydney Sweeney’s New Film, ‘Christy,’ Among Worst Box Office Openings Ever

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