Black Bear’s first theatrical title under its new distribution arm, Christy, about female boxer Christy Martin, didn’t do well at the box office, opening to only $1.3M at 2,011 theaters, however the movie’s star and producer Sydney Sweeney emphasizes, “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact.”
Taking to Instagram, she says “Christy has been the most impactful project of my life. thank you Christy. I love you.”
She wrote on Instagram, “I am so deeply proud of this movie. Proud of the film David made. Proud of the story we told. proud to represent someone as strong and resilient as Christy Martin. This experience has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
The 2x Emmy nominee added, “This film stands for survival, courage, and hope. through our campaigns, we’ve helped raise awareness for so many affected by domestic violence. we all signed on to this film with the belief that Christy’s story could save lives.”
“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’m proud.”
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Heading into TIFF, the $15M production had its U.S. sales being handled by UTA Film Independent Group, Black Bear and AC Independent with Black Bear also repping international. However, on day one of TIFF, Black Bear took North American rights off the table for Christy, making the title, the first distributed one from the film financier.
Sweeney threw her full support behind the movie which she gained 35lbs for, training in a boxing gym at her grandmother’s Idaho home. On Friday, the actress showed up for a Q&A at AMC Century City. Sweeney recently wrapped production on the third season of HBO’s Euphoria.
Christy got a B+ CinemaScore and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes popcorn score from audiences, which is significantly better than the 67% fresh RT critics score.