Sydney Sweeney was being tapped as an Oscar contender long before her new movie Christy landed in cinemas, but a lot has happened since then, with the star’s PR team allegedly reaching out to critics describing it as a “flop.”
Say what you want about Sweeney but for better or worse, the Euphoria actress knows how to make headlines. Earlier this year, she went viral for selling her used bathwater as part of a limited edition soap made in collaboration with Dr. Squatch.
Shortly after, she found herself at the center of a controversy due to an ad campaign with American Eagle in which she’s described as having “good jeans.” Some accused the ad of being “fascist propaganda”, while celebrities turned against Sweeney after her response in a GQ interview.
Now, Sweeney is going viral for an altogether different reason. Her latest acting role sees her playing Christy Martin in a biopic on the former pro boxer’s life. It’s got mixed reviews, but the focus is now on box office statistics. Warning: This article discusses adult themes.
Is Christy a flop?
Answering this question very much depends on the definition of a “flop”. Ultimately, a movie is considered one when it fails to make a profit for the studio, meaning its total revenue doesn’t cover the combined costs of production, marketing, and distribution.
In this sense, Christy is a flop so far. The film made $1.3 million after opening in over 2,000 theaters in the US. The production budget is a little harder to pin down, with reports ranging between $15-40 million (although this is yet to be confirmed by any official sources).
Movies generally need to make approximately 2.5 times their original budget to break even due to additional costs such as marketing costs, fees to exhibitors, merchandising, and taxes.
Plus, studios only keep about 50-60% of box office revenue (and even less from international markets). So even at the lower end, Christy would need to make around $17.5 million to break even, and that’s before turning a profit.
But there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Firstly, Christy is by all accounts a success in the eyes of audiences. The sports movie has a lukewarm Rotten Tomatoes score of 67% from critics, but viewers have rated it 97%.
And, as highlighted by IndieWire, the now-viral tweets that suggest Christy scored one of the 15 worst opening weekends of all time for a movie in 2,000+ theaters may not show the full picture.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore, told the outlet, “It definitely does feel cherry-picked. What release date are we talking about? What’s the competition?
“For films like this or The Smashing Machine, they’re not going for box office, they’re going for artistic freedom and are character-driven films that are not trying to be blockbusters.”
Sweeney herself isn’t fazed by the numbers either, writing on Instagram, “Thank you to everyone who saw, felt, and believed and will believe in this story for years to come. If Christy gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded.
“So yes, I am proud. Why? Because we don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. And ‘Christy’ has been the most impactful project of my life.”
All that being said, if you’re to look at this purely from a numbers perspective, which many netizens have, it’s not a success story.
Coupled with the many controversies Sweeney’s found herself at the center of recently, as well as the dismal performance of her other 2025 films – Americana and Eden – and it’s looking increasingly like the Euphoria star’s reputation is plummeting fast.
Given she’s starring in the upcoming Season 3 of the HBO show, as well as The Housemaid adaptation – which drops next month – her PR team have seemingly stepped in.
Sydney Sweeney PR controversy
The controversy began on Monday (November 10), when Brobible writer Eric Italiano shared a screenshot of what looks like an email he’d received asking him to edit a headline about Christy to reflect the positive Rotten Tomatoes audience score.
The email reads: “Would you please mind updating the headline for us to say that despite low box office, the audience has spoken. We are 99% positive on the Popcornmeter! Box office aside, this one’s a win in all the ways that matter.”
Alongside the screenshot, Italiano said, “Got this PR email today, never got one like it before – her team’s down BAD.”
Shortly after, filmmaker Brian Long shared a similar email he’d allegedly received. This time, the response is to DiscusssingFilm’s post stating that Christy had “one of the worst opening weekends of all time for a movie released in 2,000+ theaters.”
Long replied with a meme that says, “White supremacists when they realize they have to watch white women in movies,” seemingly making light of the American Eagle ad controversy and the fact that Donald Trump gave Sweeney his seal of approval.
Taking to X/Twitter today (November 11), Long wrote, “NO SHOT Sydney Sweeney PR IS trying to do damage control for this tweet I’m crying.”
Alongside this is a screenshot of the email, which reads, “Reaching out on behalf of Sydney Sweeney and the Christy team.
“Your derogatory tweet unfairly paints our film in a negative light, even though it has a 99% audience score on the Popcorn Meter and strong rave reviews for Sydney’s performance. It’s disappointing to see a genuine, original project reduced to such cheap shot online.
“We’d appreciate more balanced thought next time, especially towards original cinema.”
Both tweets have received thousands of comments and views, with some criticizing Sweeney’s recent activities, including her response to the American Eagle and bathwater soap incidents, as well as her connections to Jeff Bezos and Scooter Braun.
“So Sydney Sweeney DOES have publicists but they are only interested in spinning bad box office and not in fixing the root of the problem as in their client’s MANY PR f**kups? Unwise,” wrote one.
Another said, “Sydney Sweeney PR team emailing everyone with viral hate tweets against her new movie, babe you made your bed.”
However, others have jumped in to defend the film and Sweeney, with one suggesting that it’s “unprofessional” for those on the receiving end to share their emails on social media.
Another said, “Fight Club, Office Space and other such cases flopped at the box office but crushed lifetime watches. Never underestimate such little trip-ups.”
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