The smash box-office success, “Sound of Freedom,” is continuing to rake in earnings as it surpassed the latest Indiana Jonesmovie over the weekend.
The 131-minute film, about the crime of child trafficking, has beaten major Hollywood studio films, doing so with just a budget of $14.5 million, much of it through crowdfunding.
Walt Disney Company shelved “Sound of Freedom” in 2018 until Angel Studios obtained the distribution rights with it opening in U.S. cinemas on July Fourth and going on to beat Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”
The Indiana Jones movie reportedly had an estimated production budget of $294 million, not counting marketing, making the film a loss thus far.
As of Aug. 13, “Sound of Freedom” has so far raked in $172,813,772 at the domestic box office, just ahead of the $172,624,353 made domestically by the fifth movie in the Indy franchise, the first since Disney bought it from its creator George Lucas.
The Indiana Jones movie opened on the weekend of June 30 to an underperforming $60 million.
Overcoming Studio Hurdles
“Sound of Freedom” is based on a real-life former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent Tim Ballard, who saved children from international child sex trafficking rings. Mr. Ballard quit his DHS job and journeyed into the jungles of Colombia to save children from sex slavery.
The film also features Academy Award-winner Mira Sorvinoand Bill Camp from “12 Years a Slave”.
The film was directed by Alejandro Monteverde and produced by Eduardo Verastegui.
Mr. Ballard is portrayed in the film by Jim Caviezel, best known for playing Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s 2004 hit Christian film, “The Passion of the Christ” and as Edmond Dantès in 2002’s “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
The movie has been the greatest surprise at the domestic box office in 2023, surpassing other anticipated films like “Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Elemental,” and “The Flash,” according to Box Office Mojo.
Angel Studios CEO and co-founder Neal Harmon told the Washington Examiner last month that “Sound of Freedom” was “initially made with [21st Century] Fox.”
