The prospect of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny bombing at the box office was unthinkable at the beginning of summer, and yet Disney’s swansong for one of cinema’s most iconic characters ended up losing a fortune. Not only that, but it was handily crushed by Sound of Freedom, which emerged from the pack as the year’s biggest breakout success bar none.
Made for just $18 million and delayed for five whole years after being ditched by the Mouse House prior to Angel Studios stepping and giving it a wide release, the contentious thriller inspired by true events would go on an absolute tear domestically, hauling in almost $183 million to leave Dial of Destiny in the dust, despite costing a considerable $277 million less to produce.
If you thought the hot-button crowdfunded flick was done there, then think again, because Sound of Freedom has started its international rollout, and once again it has enticed paying customers from all corners of the globe to flock to their nearest theater and check it out on the big screen.
Latin and South America has proven particularly partial, with the Jim Caviezel-fronted movie having topped the charts in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Belize, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and the Dominican Republic, while it’s also the number one box office hit in New Zealand.
In a summer where the misses dramatically outweighed the hits, Sound of Freedom has been living proof that some runaway freight trains simply can’t be stopped.