Sydney Sweeney’s boxing movie was a bomb. Why do we keep making boxing biopics?
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Sydney Sweeney’s latest movie was down for the count in its opening weekend at the box office.
According to the receipts from Box Office Mojo, “Christy,” a boxer biopic, was released in more than 2,000 theaters but took in just $1.3 million on opening weekend.
Boxing movies about real people have a tough time connecting with audiences.
“If ‘Christy’ gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded,” Sweeney wrote on Instagram on Monday. “So yes I’m proud. Why? Because we don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact.”
The film tells the story of Christy Martin, a pioneering American boxer, who survived a murder attempt by her trainer-spouse. (Martin is now married to a former competitor, Lisa Holewyne.)
Sweeney is an A-list star but this year she’s been featured in more controversy-centered headlines about her advertising work than she has been in successful film and TV projects. That attention she’s gotten has not immediately resulted in people in seats this year.
What happened here? The truth about boxing films in general and boxing films starring women may have some answers.
Last year’s “The Fire Inside” starred Ryan Destiny. She played female boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and has held multiple championships across various weight classes.
It got positive reviews, but only earned $1.96 million in its opening weekend, picking up to $8 million during its entire domestic run, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Against the Ropes,” a 2004 fictionalized version of the life of boxing manager Jackie Kallen, starring Meg Ryan, garnered negative reviews and slim big box office receipts to match.
That played a role in Ryan stepping out of the field for a bit. During a 2019 interview with the New York Times Ryan was asked if “Against the Ropes” and another film, “In the Cut,” “had been better received by critics or audiences” would she have still have taken a break from her Hollywood career, as she did.
“I think the feeling with Hollywood was mutual,” Ryan said at the time. “I felt done when they felt done, probably.”
What about boxing movies about men? “Hands of Stone,” the Robert De Niro film about Roberto Durán, opened widely in 2016 and seems to have tracked very similarly to “Christy,” with a weak opening weekend and a slow follow.
The Miles Teller biopic of Vinny Pazienza, “Bleed for This,” similarly failed to fill theaters. “Phantom Punch,” the 2009 Sonny Liston biopic starring Ving Rhames, performed so poorly it has been almost erased from the permanent record.
It might feel like audiences, despite their love of “Raging Bull” and the “Rocky” franchise, just don’t love biographical boxing movies about real people that much.
Except, every once in a while, one film proves an exception to the rule. “The Fighter,” David O. Russell’s fictionalized biography of boxer Micky Ward, was a rare worldwide smash in 2010. Ron Howard’s 2005 “Cinderella Man,” about James J. Braddock and starring Russell Crowe, was also a rare critical and commercial success.
The best-known women’s boxing films aren’t biopics.
Michelle Rodriguez made her movie acting debut in “Girlfight,” a fictional independent film. She played a hot-tempered teen who decides to channel her anger into boxing. The very inexpensive film didn’t pull in a ton of money, but it did launch Rodriguez’s movie career, which has included the billion-dollar “Fast & Furious” franchise. It also made a name for Karyn Kusama, who later directed “Jennifer’s Body” and is an executive producer of “Yellowjackets.”
Then there’s the biggest of them all: the fictional 2004 film “Million Dollar Baby.” Not only did it find commercial success, it met wide critical acclaim. It won best picture at the Academy Awards and stars Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman won best actress and best supporting actor, respectively. Clint Eastwood, who pushed for the film to be made and costarred as well, also won a best director Oscar.
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