‘Sound of Freedom’: The unexpected blockbuster about child trafficking breaks $100 million in revenue

Sound of Freedom, an American faith-based film that takes aim at the global trafficking of children, has now grossed over $100 million in box office revenue. Since is premiere on July 4, the movie — which had a budget of just $14 million — has made more than $110 million. In its first nine days in theaters, four million people went to watch the movie. What’s more, it is only screening domestically, making it the biggest independent movie in the United States since March 2020, when the pandemic began, according to Comscore.

Directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde, Sound of Freedom tells the real-life story of Tim Ballard, a former U.S. government agent who decides to travel to Colombia to free two Honduran siblings who have trafficked. Along the way, he rescues 50 children from the clutches of criminal organizations. The film presents Ballard as a lone hero, a version refuted by some media outlets such as Vice, which published an extensive report a couple of years ago.

The film has found itself at the epicenter of cultural and political debate in the United States, due to its story, lead actor Jim Caviezel’s promotional campaign and the reactions it has aroused. While promoting the movie, Caviezel has repeatedly cited QAnon, a conspiracy movement defended by the far right that falsely purported that liberal Democrats were involved in child trafficking.

Sound of Freedom is distributed by Angel Studios, a media company focused on Christian and conservative content. The distributor has a number of hits to its name, including The Chosen, a movie about Jesus Christ financed by donors that has racked up more than 500 million views in Spain alone. In response to criticism over the movie’s alleged links to QAnon, Angel Studios replied that the film was made back in 2018 and has nothing to do with the conspiracy group. Indeed, the movie’s producer, ultra-Catholic conservative Eduardo Verástegui, revealed that neither Disney nor 20th Century Fox wanted it in 2019, and that both Amazon and Netflix also passed it up.

Angel Studios was able to purchase the rights to distribute the movie via a crowdfunding campaign, in which 7,000 people donated. In a blog post, called The True Story Behind the Movie, the distributors discuss how Sound of Freedom was made, who Ballard is and which of the moments that are reflected in the work are pure cinematographic fiction. “Anyone who has seen this movie knows it has nothing to do with conspiracy theories,” said Angel Studios president Jordan Harmon.

Verástegui’s controversial profile has also marked the movie’s reception. The Mexican producer, who is friends with Spanish far-right leader Santiago Abascal and Hungary’s ultra-conservative leader Viktor Orbán, is a practicing Catholic who defends celibacy before marriage. He has a project in Los Angeles against abortion, Manto de Guadalupe, and is an active member of another project that encourages men to pray in public places reserved for them, Rosario de Hombres. What’s more, he has formed a political movement, Viva México, and says he plans to run in Mexico’s presidential elections in June 2024.

In interviews, Verástegui claims that the project found him and that Ballard inspired him, as a “real, flesh and blood hero” to make this “celebration of freedom.” One of the keys to the movie’s success has been its “Pay It Forward” initiative, which encourages moviegoers to buy an extra ticket that can be given away.

Meanwhile, former U.S. president Donald Trump organized a private screening of Sound of Freedom at his residence in New Jersey, which was attended by Verástegui, Caviezel and Ballard himself. When Trump was president, he appointed Ballard to be a commission advisor. While the filmmakers are trying to distance themselves from politics, Trump has jumped on the movie to attack the Democrats. “When I am back in the White House, I will immediately end the Biden border nightmare that traffickers are using to exploit vulnerable women and children,” Trump said in a campaign video. “I will urge Congress to ensure that anyone caught trafficking children across our border receives the death penalty immediately,” he added.

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