THE CONTROVERSIAL MOVIE STORMING THE SUMMER
SOUND OF FREEDOM HAS DEFIED ODDS TO BECOME A BOX-OFFICE SENSATION
WHEN PLACING YOUR bets on the most successful films of summer 2023, you’d be forgiven for having missed Sound Of Freedom. The movie, billed as the true story of a former Homeland Security agent (The Passion Of The Christ’s Jim Caviezel) who embarks on a mission to rescue a young girl from Colombian child traffickers, comes via faith-based Angel Studios, and was released on Independence Day weekend. Yet the film has been challenging the likes of Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1 in the box-office charts, while playing on far fewer screens. It has grossed over $100 million on a budget of $14.5 million, an out-of-nowhere phenomenon.
The project has endured a complicated route to screen. Purchased by Fox Latin America but dropped after the Disney sale, the film was picked up by Angel Studios, who raised $5 million by crowdfunding to pay for marketing. The studio also launched an app that allowed people to buy and donate tickets to punters who couldn’t afford them, inspiring $2.6 million worth of opening-day tickets — in fact, Caviezel appears in the end credits highlighting the QR code to spread the word.
The film’s surprising popularity can be ascribed to a number of factors: timing its celebration of American heroism to the 4th of July weekend; tapping into a religious, conservative demo not often served by Hollywood; and strong word of mouth amongst spiritually-led communities (“God’s children are not for sale,” is a recurring line). But it has also inspired a healthy dose of controversy.
For there are not only questions challenging the veracity of and motives behind Ballard’s story — the film’s sensationalist portrayal of child trafficking has been criticised for guilttripping audiences into donating to Ballard’s foundation — but also accusations of invoking ultra-right-wing feeling — Rolling Stone dubbed it a “Qanon-tinged thriller”, concocted to “appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer” (Caviezel also publicised the film at a Qanon convention). However you feel about Sound Of Freedom’s potentially dubious underpinnings, its stunning success as lowbudget fare in the heat of blockbuster season could mark a sea change in Hollywood. If nothing else, what are the odds now for a Jim Caviezel Cinematic Universe (JCCU)?
SOUND OF FREEDOM IS IN UK CINEMAS FROM 1 SEPTEMBER