Sydney Sweeney transforms into boxer for new film ‘Christy’ with premiere set for Toronto International Film Festival

Sydney Sweeney is ready to throw hands with her new film Christy set to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.

On Monday, TIFF released a first look image at Sweeney’s transformation into former boxing champion Christy Martin with plans for the film to premiere at the festival running from Sept. 4-14. The film was previously untitled but now Christy has a debut set with a wide release date still to be determined.

Sweeney, who is best known from roles in TV series such as Euphoria and films like Anyone But You, underwent a dramatic transformation to play Martin in the biopic, which chronicles her life as a championship fighter and the tragedy she faced after her ex-husband attempted to murder her in 2010.

“My body was completely different,” Sweeney told W magazine about her transformation. “I didn’t fit in any of my clothes. I’m usually a size 23 in jeans, and I was wearing a size 27. My boobs got bigger. And my butt got huge. It was crazy! I was like, Oh my god But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.”

The film is directed by David Michod with Ben Foster playing her husband James Martin and the rest of the cast includes Merritt Weaver, Katy O’Brien, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, Chad L. Coleman, and Tony Cavalero.

In addition to Christy, the highly anticipated biopic The Smashing Machine about former UFC and PRIDE fighter Mark Kerr is also set to debut at the same festival in September.

Directed by Benny Safdie, the film stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the embattled former MMA star, who was often hailed as one of the most talented athletes to ever crossover to fighting but his career was riddled with struggles including his well-documented drug addiction.

Johnson is joined in the film by Oscar nominee Emily Blunt with fighters Ryan Bader and Oleksandr Usyk also playing crucial roles in the movie.