A concerningly low $1.3 million premiere cratered with a shocking $108,487 in weekend 2 after it was pulled from 1,200 screens.

Sydney Sweeney’s Christy sets box office record for worst drop in second weekend

A concerningly low $1.3 million premiere cratered with a shocking $108,487 in weekend 2 after it was pulled from 1,200 screens.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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November 19, 2025 7:35 p.m. ET

Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'. Credit:

Black Bear Pictures

- Sydney Sweeney's boxing biopic *Christy *set a new box office record for the worst second weekend drop, according to Box Office Mojo.

- The film opened to a low $1.3 million but dropped a stunning 91.7% after being pulled from 1,200 screens, earning only $108,487 in its second weekend.

- Sweeney previously defended the film's underperformance, saying, "We don't always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact."

It's looking bad for Sydney Sweeney's new film *Christy* — new box office record levels of bad.

The biopic of boxing champion Christy Martin may still be faring decently with critics, having received quite a few complimentary reviews, but the film has fast become one of the most gruesome box office horror stories of the year.

After a concerningly low $1.3 million open last weekend, *Christy *has completely cratered, grossing a scant $108,487 on roughly 900 screens (down 1,200 from its premiere), according to Comscore, which compiles box office data. That translates to a $90 per-theater-average — far, far below the amount a film of its scale and spread should be netting.

The film's week one to week two drop of a staggering 91.7% represents the worst drop of its kind in box office history, at least according to the data made available by Box Office Mojo.**

Ben Foster and Sydney Sweeney in 'Christy'.

Courtesy of Black Bear

*Christy*'s premiere haul was low, but not out of the ordinary for a performance-driven biopic of a little-known figure made on a modest, estimated $15 million budget. But two additional factors raised serious concerns.

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Sydney Sweeney reacts to 'Christy' having one of the worst box office debuts of all time

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First, *Christy *was the beneficiary of a substantial marketing campaign. Whatever the cost, it wasn't factored into that production estimation, as marketing and publicity costs are rarely, if ever, factored into budgetary estimations. That means the film's actual budget could balloon two or even threefold higher than the reported $15 million.

Second, *Christy *premiered on a whopping 2,184 screens. That made for an $838 per-theater-average, certainly higher than weekend two's PTA, but much lower than its clutch of production companies and distributor Black Bear Pictures might have hoped for. By contrast, this past weekend's box office topper, *Now You See Me: Now You Don't*, premiered to $21.3 million in 3,403 theaters, for a PTA of $6,259.****

*Christy*'s box office failure has added to the existing controversy around Sweeney's polarizing American Eagle jeans advertisement.

Sweeney initially took the underperformance in stride, saying she's still "proud" of the film "because we don't always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact." But others have assigned Sweeney the blame for the film tanking, including actress Ruby Rose, who said she was initially attached to play a character in the film, called Sweeney a "cretin," and accused, "you ruined the film." Sweeney.

But at least Sweeney has Martin herself in her corner, who came out swinging for the actress after Rose's remarks, saying, "Syd not only worked her ass off for this film, she worked her ass off for me. For my story. For so many others suffering in silence."

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