Sound Of Freedom Outperforms Shazam 2, 65, Air & Many Others At The Box Office With Ease
Alejandro Monteverde's controversial action thriller "Sound of Freedom" centers around a rogue U.S. special agent named Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), who undertakes a vigilante mission halfway across the world to take down a child sex trafficking ring in Columbia. The film's plot is loosely inspired by the story of the real-life Ballard, who founded the anti-child-trafficking organization, and who undertook a rescue operation similar to what is presented in the movie.
Although one could assume that "Sound of Freedom" would perform on par with the other action flicks hitting theaters this summer, the film has, thus far, enjoyed a tremendous level of success at the box office, outpacing the international gross for some of the biggest films of 2023. Since its premiere on July 4, "Sound of Freedom" has grossed more than $90 million at the time of writing, outstripping much more noteworthy films like " Shazam! Fury of the Gods" ($57,638,006), "Air" ($52,460,106), and the Adam Driver-led "65" ($32,062,904).
This past weekend, the film even outperformed the weekend gross total of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," a film with an estimated budget of $294,700,000, nearly 21 times the $14.5 million budget for "Sound of Freedom." As if this feat wasn't impressive enough, "Sound of Freedom" is beating out all of these other films while only being available in the United States, meaning its domestic gross is more than the international gross for some of 2023's biggest movies.
Critics of the film say its success comes exclusively from an extremist far-right base
While the incredible gross totals for "Sound of Freedom" are certainly nothing to scoff at, the reasons behind the film's unprecedented success are incredibly controversial. Critics of "Sound of Freedom" have accused the film of appealing directly to a far-right conservative viewer base and pushing QAnon conspiracy theories through its inaccurate portrayal of human trafficking.
These claims stem from the fact that both the real-life Tim Ballard and the film's lead actor, Jim Caviezel, have publicly expressed their beliefs in child-trafficking conspiracy theories pushed by QAnon. Caviezel, in particular, has even referenced these extreme conspiracy theories during the press run for "Sound of Freedom," appearing on "Bannon's War Room" to claim that the CIA and FBI are trying to hinder the film's distribution, and reiterating the QAnon theory that a secret cabal of worldwide elites kidnap children in order to drink their blood. Ballard himself has also been caught pushing false or exaggerated statistics regarding child trafficking in the United States, including a baseless claim that 10,000 children are brought to the U.S. for sex each year.
Critics of the film have also claimed that "Sound of Freedom" (which is distributed by the faith-based company Angel Studios) has only achieved its incredible success because hordes of Christians and conservatives are flocking to the theaters to hear its far-right message. Though "Sound of Freedom ” does not actually depict any of the QAnon theories that are causing so much uproar, it's important to keep in mind all of the controversy surrounding the film's alleged far-right background and controversial lead star.