It’s unfortunate that the sports drama Christy was released only a few weeks after the very similar Dwayne Johnson vehicle, The Smashing Machine, crashed and burned at the box office. The Smashing Machine was incidentally made available to watch on PVOD platforms at home at around the same time as Christy‘s wide release in theaters. Starring Sydney Sweeney, who desperately needs to bounce back from a poor box office streak, the film got off to a mediocre start domestically and so far has made just $1.6 million in its three-day debut. By comparison, The Smashing Machine earned nearly $6 million in roughly the same frame, but was playing in around 1,000 more theaters.
Directed by Benny Safdie, The Smashing Machine tanked with just $11 million domestically, making it Johnson’s biggest-ever flop. The movie was produced on a reported budget of $50 million, and received mostly positive reviews. Like Johnson, Sweeney is also receiving Oscar buzz for her performance as the boxer Christy Martin in Christy. Directed by David Michôd — he has previously worked with Brad Pitt, Timothée Chalamet, and Robert Pattinson — the movie is currently sitting at a 66% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website’s consensus reads, “While Christy falters in tonal cohesion and emotional impact, it remains a compelling showcase for Sydney Sweeney’s transformative performance, grounding a mythic genre in raw, personal storytelling.”
Sydney Sweeney Needs a Win
In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime described Christy as a “fairly rote boxing film,” but praised Sweeney’s central performance, writing that the movie “allows Sweeney to show what she’s got, and it’s a fantastic role for the actress, one that will likely silence the doubters.” The actor is coming off of a string of box office flops. She played a supporting role in Madame Web, which received terrible reviews and grossed only around $100 million against a reported budget of $80 million. She followed it up with the long-delayed dark comedy Americana, which earned less than $1 million, and then appeared as part of a star-studded ensemble in Ron Howard‘s Eden, which grossed a 20th of its reported $50 million budget. At this stage, Christy will likely struggle to hit even $10 million domestically. You can watch the movie in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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November 7, 2025
- Runtime
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135 minutes
- Director
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David Michôd
- Writers
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Mirrah Foulkes, David Michôd
- Producers
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Brent Stiefel, Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Sydney Sweeney, Teddy Schwarzman, John Friedberg, Michael Heimler, Justin Lothrop, Brad Zimmerman, David Levine
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