News/Commentary

‘We are the people’s film’: Fans flock to ‘Sound of Freedom’, crush Disney’s Indiana Jones over July 4th weekend

July 6, 2023 | | Print Article

The year 2023 may just go down in film history as the year Hollywood got schooled.

On what is traditionally a huge weekend for big-budget, blockbuster releases, even Indiana Jones had to take a back seat to Angel Studios’ Fourth of July premiere of “Sound of Freedom,” a crowdfunded film based on the true story of former federal agent Tim Ballard’s tireless quest to rescue children from the horrors of human trafficking.


(Video: YouTube)

Starring Jim Caviezel, the action-packed movie had a budget of roughly $15 million, compared to Disney’s $295 million budget for its flailing “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

On opening day, “Sound of Freedom” debuted in over 2,600 theaters and nearly recouped its entire budget, raking in more than $14 million through “pay it forward” and direct box office sales, Fox News Digital reports.

Meanwhile, the last installment in the “Indiana Jones” franchise graced nearly 2,000 more theaters than “Sound of Freedom” and pulled in just $11 million, for the second-place holiday spot.

“Thanks to fans around the country, SOUND OF FREEDOM earned the top spot as America’s number one movie on Independence Day. We’ve received numerous messages telling us theaters are either packed or sold out,” a jubilant Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, announced in a press release. “This movie has now taken on a life of its own to become something more than that, a grassroots movement.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Indeed, audiences are praising the film, which follows Ballard as he attempts to save a little girl from sex traffickers in the Colombian jungle. The movie has received a 100% score from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes and has earned an A+ CinemaScore.

“With an A+ CinemaScore rating, we’re the top-rated movie in America, and we’re going to see word-of-mouth spread even further going into the weekend,” Harmon wrote in the press release. “The world needs to see SOUND OF FREEDOM, and we know that our biggest competitive advantage—our incredible fans and investors—are going to make sure that happens.”

And here is Hollywood’s hard-earned lesson: Audiences may get nostalgic over another sequel or a long-loved character, but they get emotionally and financially invested in the films that matter to them the most.

“This is a good versus evil story,” Caviezel said during an appearance on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle.”

The actor said it is the best film he has done since “The Passion of the Christ.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“We are not Disney’s film,” he said. “We are the people’s film. Can we love our children, can we love God’s children more than we fear evil? That’s the challenge here, and Americans are up to it.”

According to its website, Angel Studios empowers “filmmakers to crowdfund, create, and distribute films and TV series globally, backed by thousands of Angel investors.”

More than 205,000 contributors pitched in to make “Sound of Freedom” happen, and more than $2.6 million was generated via its unique “pay-it-forward” model.

Actor Mel Gibson helped generate support for the film’s release with a now-viral, low-tech video urging people to go see the movie.

ADVERTISEMENT

“One of the most disturbing problems in our world today is human trafficking, and particularly, the trafficking of children. Our future is our children,” the “Lethal Weapon” icon stated. “Now, the first step in eradicating this crime is awareness. Go see ‘Sound of Freedom.'”

Grassroots support for the fearless film swelled, and movie-goers responded, skipping what many are calling the “woke” messaging in “Indiana Jones” for the truly heroic tale told in the Angel Studios production.

And this isn’t the first time Hollywood got spanked this year by a small-budget, faith-based film.

ADVERTISEMENT

The film adaptation of Blaze TV host Steve Deace’s eerily prescient novel, “A Nefarious Plot,” — titled simply, “Nefarious” and starring Sean Patrick Flanery of “The Boondock Saints” fame — was made on a tiny budget of just $2.8 million.

As BizPac Review reported, fans of “The Steve Deace Show” had spent years alongside the unapologetically Christian host, willing the film into existence, and when it was released in April, they turned out nationwide to support it, going so far as to call their local theaters and demanding that the show be screened.


(Video: YouTube)

When it went to streaming, it quickly became one of the top five-selling movies on Google/YouTube, with fans declaring Flanery’s astonishing performance to be nothing short of Oscar-worthy.

Clearly, American audiences are hungry for relatable stories that align more closely with their oft-ignored conservative values, much in the same power-wielding way they take their light beer.

“After seeing #NefariousMovie three times, #SoundofFreedomMovie is next on my list to watch,” stated one user on Twitter. “It is so satisfying to see fantastic thought-provoking independent movies blowing Hollywood based movies out of the water!”

 

Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles