Jim Caviezel’s new film Sound of Freedom, released by “faith-friendly” studio Angel Productions, opened in 2,600 theaters on July 4 and almost won the day against Disney’s more widely marketed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Angel Studios is a film producer and distributor that uses equity crowdfunding to finance its projects. This past May, it filed a public investment offering to raise marketing and distribution funds for Sound of Freedom. According to Angel, it only took two weeks for the company to hit its goal of $5 million to release the movie.
Sound of Freedom is said to be based on true events, with Caviezel starring as former Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard — who founded his own anti-trafficking group after being unsatisfied with efforts by the U.S. government. The film co-stars Mira Sorvino and Bill Camp, and focuses on a mission in Latin America to rescue trafficked children.
How much did Sound of Freedom cost to make originally?
Per the Wall Street Journal, the film’s original production budget — before the public offering to help release it — was $14.5 million. It’s a small amount compared to big summer tentpole films, but remember that Angel must pay that back to various investors who contributed funds for shooting.
How much money did Sound of Freedom make on opening day?
According to Deadline, Sound of Freedom nabbed $11.5 million on July 4, coming in just a hair shy of Indiana Jones‘ $11.698 million take for Tuesday. This is higher than earlier estimates, which said Freedom might push past $11 million in six days. Now that the movie has done that in one day, sources are predicting a six-day total of around $20 million through Freedom‘s first weekend. Plus, the film has achieved the much-coveted A+ CinemaScore — although that’s pretty common for a faith-based title.
Time will tell if any of the controversies surrounding the film end up denting its box office haul, including reports that Ballard’s anti-trafficking group has faked evidence and fabricated the results of its work. There’s also Caviezel himself to worry about. The actor has been pushing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories while doing press for the film, including that liberals are trafficking kids to obtain the chemical compound adrenochrome.
Our take is that none of this will harm the movie’s performance, because the people who want to see a film produced under a faith-based banner are going to see it regardless of what the media says. We’re also assuming that most people who are planning to watch this movie have already bought tickets — it sold $10 million in presales, and most of those people likely went on opening day since U.S. businesses were closed for the holiday.
If faith-based studios are interested in having longer holds at the box office, they might consider refusing to back projects led by actors who think Pizzagate was real.