Top US box office hit, film “Sound Of Freedom” addresses child trafficking and shakes up Hollywood

Screenshot by photography – Angel Studio

FILM – The day after its release in theaters in the United States, Tuesday, July 4, the thriller Sound Of Freedom has already grossed $11.5 million in pre-sales. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde and starring Jim Caviezel, the feature film addresses the theme of child trafficking. It tells the true story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent who fought against this criminal activity, particularly in South America. Despite impressive public enthusiasm (with a better box office start than the blockbuster Indiana Jones), the support of personalities such as Elon Musk and actor Mel Gibson and many positive reviews, Sound of Freedom is not mentioned in the mainstream media. Will it be released in French theaters ? Where can I see the film, from France ?

Timothy Ballard is the founder of the non-profit organization, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), which specializes in combating sex trafficking and child trafficking. Before starting this organization, Tim Ballard, author of several books, claims to have served for 12 years in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), within a task force(a task force, editor's note) charged with investigating crimes committed on the Internet against children. He was deployed as an undercover agent with a US team against child sex tourism, according to the OUR website. 

“Frustrated” by the lack of strategies to rescue kidnapped or trafficked children, particularly in underdeveloped countries, Tim Ballard, who has also appealed to the US Congress on this issue, left the DHS and founded his non-profit organization in 2013, alongside “former FBI agents and CIA teammates”.  

“Mass training weapon” on the child trafficking

His character is played by actor Jim Caviezel, known for his role in The Passion of the Christ, a worldwide hit film directed in 2004 by Mel Gibson and retracing the last hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

Interviewed by OSV News, the actor returned to the “objective” of this film, to “sell 2 million tickets for 2 million children” affected by trafficking. The film's producer, Mexican Eduardo Verástegui, explains, for his part, that he intends to make this thriller “a weapon of instruction and mass inspiration”against this activity that is as criminal as it is inhumane.  

To achieve this goal, the film's distributor, Angel Studios, is adopting the same crowdfunding method already used for its hit series, “The Chosen”. Viewers who purchase tickets will allow others to watch this thriller for free. 

Eduardo Verástegui also returned to the origins of the film, whose work on the script began in 2015. “I was in Los Angeles and I met Tim Ballard and his team – former CIA agents, former FBI agents – and I learned what they were doing, traveling the world undercover, rescuing children who were kidnapped for sexual exploitation,” he testified. “And I was in shock. I couldn't sleep for a few days when they told me what was going on”.

Sound Of Freedom is intended to be “a weapon against the greatest evil we've ever seen. And when the public becomes aware of this, they'll be surprised how evil these people are. Doing this to children…”, he added.  

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$14 million sales

The film, which had made $10 million in pre-sales the day before, has now grossed $14 million in total, surpassing Disney's blockbuster “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”. $11.5 million was raised in direct box office sales and $2.6 million was raised through its crowdfunding platform, called “Pay it Forward.”  

Sound of Freedom is America’s #1 movie, taking the top spot at the box office on Independence Day.

See it in theaters TODAY, get showtimes at https://t.co/tUytCofxfr #AngelStudios #2MillionFor2Million #SoundOfFreedomMovie pic.twitter.com/PZCRQJWATt

— Angel Studios (@AngelStudiosInc) July 6, 2023

A success widely discussed by the media and specialized sites like Box Office Mojo or DeadLine, unlike the mainstream media which focuses particularly on the Disney feature film, in the United States as in France, ignoring the film distributed by Angel Studios.

Fox News is one of the rare American media to have dedicated its titles to Sound Of Freedom, featuring interviews with Tim Ballard and Jim Caviezel, in addition to publishing a review of the film.  

Despite promotion by several well-known figures, this box-office success seems to have gone unnoticed. Twitter boss Elon Musk, who has promised to make the hunt for child pornography his priority, even recommended publishing the film on his social network “for free for a short period”.

Mel Gibson also dedicated a video in which he calls to watch the distribution of Angel Studios. “One of the most disturbing problems in the world is human trafficking, especially children. The first step to eradicating this crime is awareness. Go watch Sound Of Freedom”, he said. 

I recommend putting it on this platform for free for a brief period or just asking people to subscribe to support (we would not keep any funds)

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 14, 2023

Is the film being shunned by the mainstream media because of the criticism aimed at Tim Ballard, whose rescue accounts have been called into question? ? His relationship with foreign government officials suspected of corruption is being singled out by some critics. A debate should then take place, in relation to the success of Sound Of Freedom with the public, which shakes up Hollywood.

Angel Studios acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the thriller in March 2023, but the broadcast dates outside the United States, including in France, have not yet been announced.

In the meantime, where can we watch Sound Of Freedom? At the moment, the film is exclusively released in theaters and is not available on various video-on-demand platforms such as Amazon Prime, NetFlix, Hulu or HBO. In addition, Sound Of Freedom is only available in English and Spanish, in other words in Original Version.

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