The trailer for Christy, a sports biopic starring Sydney Sweeney as legendary boxer Christy Martin, has been unveiled, Variety reports. Martin is celebrated as the first female fighter inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Directed by David Michod and co-written with Mirrah Foulkes from a story by Katherine Fugate, the film also features Katy O’Brian, Merritt Wever, Ben Foster, Ethan Embry, Chad L. Coleman, Valyn Hall and Tony Cavalero.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Christy has already drawn attention for Sweeney’s physical transformation. The actor gained 30 pounds through a rigorous regimen designed by a nutritionist and trainers. “We upped my calorie intake and I started taking a lot of protein shakes and supplements and eating everything. I ate a lot of Smuckers, a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milkshakes, kind of just constantly always eating because we were so active,” Sweeney told Variety.
Critics have praised her performance, with Owen Gleiberman describing it as a “true-note, game-changing knockout.” He added, “It’s fun to see her in the ring, hunched and concentrated, pummelling away, then felling an opponent with a merciless left hook but whenever that happens, her ebullience comes out. She grins in triumph and pumps her fists in the air like a kid at her own birthday party; the pleasure she takes in winning is part of what makes her a star.”
Executive producers include Foulkes, John Friedberg, Andrew Golov, Michael Heimler, Harrison Huffman, David Levine, Clementine Quittner, Ryan Schwartz, Nick Shumaker and Brad Zimmerman. Producers are Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, Justin Lothrop, Teddy Schwarzman, Brent Stiefel, Sweeney and Michod.
Christy chronicles Martin’s rise to prominence in the late 1980s, her global stardom, and her pioneering role in women’s boxing. She was also the first female boxer elected to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016.
The film is scheduled to release on 7 November.
