After five years on the shelf, “Sound of Freedom” has become a surprising summer blockbuster.
The film, distributed by the Utah-based Angel Studios, has earned a stunning $85.5 million at the box office since its holiday debut July 4, according to Box Office Mojo. In the movie, “Person of Interest” star Jim Caviezel portrays Tim Ballard, a former U.S. agent who left the Department of Homeland Security to rescue children trapped in sex trafficking.
As Screen Rant reported, the script for “Sound of Freedom” was written in 2015 and filming for the movie wrapped in 2018, but the project collected dust for several years before making it to the silver screen.
The movie’s producers inked a distribution deal in 2018 with 20th Century Fox but, less than a year later, The Walt Disney Company purchased the studio, meaning it acquired all the company’s projects, including “Sound of Freedom,” which Disney shelved.
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A spokesperson for Disney told Newsweek the distribution deal for “Sound of Freedom” predated its purchase of 20th Century Studios and, therefore, Disney “had no knowledge of the film, given the nature of the international acquisition pre-merger.”
Angel Studios, the faith-based distribution company behind the hit Bible series “The Chosen,” acquired the worldwide distribution rights to “Sound of Freedom” in March of this year.
On its first day in theaters, “Sound of Freedom” outperformed Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Completed with a budget of $14.5 million, “Sound of Freedom” earned nearly its entire budget back at $14.2 million on opening day, while “Indiana Jones” made $11.7 million that Tuesday.
Ballard, the real-life person whose story inspired “Sound of Freedom,” recently spoke to CBN’s Faithwire about the faith that undergirds his work to save children from sex trafficking and modern-day slavery.
“If you don’t feel Jesus … you’re not gonna do this,” he explained. “And if you try, you’re not gonna last — at least I wouldn’t. Everything is faith to me. Everything is knowing what Jesus says about hurting kids. … He’s clear where He stands on it, and that gives you confidence in the Lord.”
In a separate interview, Caviezel, perhaps best known for portraying Jesus in Mel Gibson’s 2004 epic “The Passion of the Christ,” described faith as “paramount,” but said action accompanies true belief.
“[I]t has to have something that comes from it,” he said. “You love someone; it’s an action. It’s not what I say, it’s what I do. The problem is, in a lot of this modern-day Christianity, is people … are more afraid of the devil than they are of God.”
Of his role in “Sound of Freedom,” Caviezel said, “Our film — I knew we could beat anyone in the world. I hate the ‘faith-based’ sound. You know what it says? It says, ‘Hey public, we made this movie for you — it’s a faith-based film — so you gotta go see it.’ Hey, if it’s not good, don’t go see it. This thing is phenomenal.”
To learn more about “Sound of Freedom” or to purchase tickets, click here.
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