Scorching ‘Sound of Freedom’ Eyes $100 Million (and more)
Angel Studios' smash adds theaters, delivers big-time in Heartland USA
The summer’s sleeper smash shows no signs of slowing down.
Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom,” based on the life and heroics of Tim Ballard, came in second at the U.S. box office this weekend. Only the debut of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” snagged more ticket sales.
“Freedom” scored an estimated $22 million in its second full weekend of release while “Dead Reckoning slightly under-performed expectations with a 3-day haul of $54.2 million.
The indie smash added 413 theaters to its 2,852 screen total, according to Deadline.com, which was still lower than “M:I” (4,327) and “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (3,865). “Freedom” double the franchise sequel’s earnings for the weekend.
It seems a $100 million theatrical haul is all but certain for a film discarded by Disney and left to gather dust five years ago.
The film, which follows a Homeland Security agent (Jim Caviezel of “The Passion of the Christ” fame) who goes rogue to save children trapped in a sex trafficking network, attracted big crowds across the American heartland.
Meanwhile, 53% of Sound of Freedom‘s $23.6M second weekend (up a massive 20%) is coming from the South, South Central, and Midwest…
The box office news comes as former President Donald Trump plans to screen “Freedom” at his New Jersey golf property July 19. Caviezel will be on hand, as will Ballard and co-producer/co-star Eduardo Verastegui.
The press has been vilifying “Sound of Freedom” for days, inexplicably connecting the movie to the QAnon crowd and attacking Caviezel for his political views. The attacks aren’t all from left-leaning platforms.
“Red Pilled America,” a right-leaning NPR-style podcast, is challenging some of Ballard’s claims.
Is “Sound of Freedom” a true story…or the Right’s “hands up don’t shoot” moment? We review the film that everyone is talking about & tell the inconvenient truth about how it’s being sold to the public.
Listen now at https://t.co/G9Mvm50Bc0 pic.twitter.com/aBM7b6qMqN
— Red Pilled America (@RedPilled_USA) July 8, 2023
Awesome movie they tried to stop it but Praise God they didn’t a must see movie. So heart breaking God’s Children are no for sale.
‘Keep your friends close & your enemies closer’:
the only way of justifying attending a screening hosted by the very individuals who have aided & systemically condoned the commodification & trafficking of humans in this country alone for decades.
Among other things, cronies likely to be present have profited greatly from legalized trafficking by deliberately suppressing passing the ERA in the Senate that would allow actual personhood protections for women, children, & the elderly.
The stripes of predators cannot be changed. Entertaining in the lion’s den won’t affect their appetite, especially when it remains profitable. The threat of thwarting something they value more in private conversations is a potential tactic. If this is the strategy, I hope it works, despite the likelihood they will be further accused of allying with perpetrators or ‘sleeping with the enemy’.
STOP! Forget, woke or not, child trafficking is real, so was Epstein Island – and children used as sex slaves and worse.
Agreed, Hal! And let’s not forget that the Republican parties Lord and savior , Donald Trump hung out with Epstein and went all of those parties.
Why all the talk of woke this movie is showing the horror children are subjected to daily their trying to get the message out to all of us.children are suffering. My God put the politics aside this could be happening to a child next door to you
I am new to all this woke stuff. Is it okay to watch The Wiz? The film race swapped all of the characters. That makes it woke right?
I go to the movies to be entertained. I don’t see any movie with a horrific subject matter like this. That is not entertaining.
You obviously haven’t seen the movie. Very entertaining in a high quality and heartfelt way that most Americans can sincerely enjoy.
This is the first time I heard Woke used against a Conservative point of view, which is usually called based or reality or NORMAL. Good job Woke Liberals. So not winning means join them. It’s not going to save Woke Hollywood movies so the actors and screenwriters strike will be necessary to prevent further bleeding.
In this case the word woke is not being used against this movie. I am saying the film is woke and that is a good thing. Woke is good. It is meant as a compliment. You think of woke as a bad thing so therefore you think that I am insulting this movie. The original meaning of the word woke applies to this film.
“Woke,” originally a word meaning “becoming aware of social justice issues” now defines the leftist agenda to promote the bankrupt ideologies of cultural Marxism, CRT, DEI, and other irrational dogmas.
It is incorrect and disingenuous to apply this leftist term to this movie.
Morgan, you are just flat out wrong. Woke is about being aware of social injustice. That is what this movie is about. You and other conservatives have turned the term into an insult. Just because you personally lose your mind over other legitimate wile causes doesn’t mean you get to pick and choose what you call woke. This is a conservative woke movie. Woke is good. Deal with it!
Nothing irrational about the woke causes you are against. Nothing at all. Woke is about love, caring and respecting your fellow man. Conservatives have turned something positive into a negative. You just can’t seem to accept that the world is changing. You want it to stay the way it was when you grew up.
Woke is not a leftist term. You have changed the meaning of the original to turn into an insult. Woke is something both parties can get behind. If you want to complain about what you think woke represents you need to come up with a new word.
Hmmm…the left has been gaslighting other points of view by the very definition of woke since it became a word. It is now become a word the the left uses as a bat to beat down conservatives.
Tony, why are you against this movie? I saw it and think it is an important movie to have been made and seen. It is a woke movie. Woke is good. This film is made to awaken people to this problem. What is wrong with me defending this movie?
I’ve seen this movie, and this film is about the Truth, woke ignores the truth and is a distorted version of the facts.
Rob, I saw the movie and it is definitely woke. And that is a good thing! It will awaken people to the problem of human trafficking. Why would you not want people to be woke to such an important issue?
No, woke means to awaken people to an injustice. You have the meaning wrong.
Rob, look woke up in the dictionary. That is not what woke means.
Sound of Freedom is totally virtue signaling. Absolutely. Anytime you make an agenda driven movie that is virtue signaling.
Absolutely an agenda movie, and I’m ok with that because there’s no political agenda about it. The agenda is to bring to light the human trafficking of children. This isn’t left wing or a right wing movie. This is about the abduction, selling, enslaving, raping, and exploitation of innocent children to pedophiles. You hear about it, but I didn’t realize how big it was.
Everyone should support this movie and the story it’s sharing. We need to stop the horror of child sex trafficking. It’s disgusting!!
The people who want it not be shown has signaled they are scum whereas the people who saw it are now aware what the elites and the government is actually doing. Absolutely nothing.
Nobody is stopping this film from being shown. I’ve not heard of one protest against this film anywhere. This is a positive, woke agenda driven film. Deal with it!
You’re mistaken Andy, Sound of Freedom is STRUGGLING to get into well over 1000 theaters still to this day & for some of the showings there have been many accounts of tickets being refunded & the movie not being shown because of “technical issues” or “A/C units down” in only that specific auditorium. There is system in place that is pulling as many strings as it can (without being obvious) in order to limit the reach of this movie.
John, you are mistaken. No one is trying to stop this film from being seen. Your proof is that the air conditioning shutdown at one theater? Pretty flimsy. I saw the film and had no problem seeing it.
John, stop with the conspiracy theories. The film is making lots of money. That is what the article is about. Get back to me after you’ve seen the film and let be know if you had trouble buying a ticket and viewing the movie. My guess is you will have no trouble at all.
The film was actually finished 5 years ago. It took the studio that long to get past all the roadblocks put up to stop it from being shown.
Ben, you are out of touch with reality, when you’re defending child trafficking.
Tony, do you have a difficult time with reading comprehension? That is not at all what Ben said.
Tony, stop being a troll. This movie is an important film to have been made. You should be for this movie. It is a message driven film that needs to be seen.
Tony, why do you have a problem with this movie? This movie is important and needs to be seen.
Tony, you are out of touch with reality when you ignore the message of this film. Stop defending the banning of this movie.
How would you like to be one of the millions of children who are sex trafficked? This is beyond real and an international threat. If you are for slavery reparations of ppl who were never slaves( and I bet you are) then you should care about current slaves. Not your flavor of the month virtue signal???
Conservatives are just as woke as Liberals. They just don’t see it in themselves. They’ve weaponized the word woke and use it as an insult. It is a good think to be awake to other peoples suffering. Sound of Freedom is as woke as a woke can be. And that is a very good thing!!!
It’s not a Woke movie when the Left doesn’t want you to see it. An actual Woke movie is when no one actually wants to see it. It’s fake virtue signaling. Completely phony. Sound of Freedom is based on true events that keeps occurring and the Left wants it to remain a hidden shame.
PP, it’s a woke movie and that is okay. Lots of woke on both sides of the aisle. Embrace it.
Interesting, but they didn’t race and gender swap the former Homeland Security agent by making him a girl boss. This is the first Woke movie to exceed expectations. Congratulations should be in order especially to acknowledge the men who saved children.
Race or gender swapping a character in a movie is not woke. That is just a creative casting decision. Woke is a movie that has a message with an agenda. Making people awake to a societal problem. This movie is woke. Woke is a very, very good thing!!
Depends on what you definition of “is” is, right?
Why is this movie not considered woke? After all, the definition of woke is to be awakened to the struggles of other people. This film is also not pure entertainment but is message driven. I am not saying that this is a bad thing I just wonder why conservatives don’t realize when they are doing the same thing they accuse liberals of.
It’s not considered Woke when the Left wants to bury it. Get it?
“Woke” means cramming a minority political view down people’s throats, silencing opposing views, and marginalizing and ostracizing any “idiot”, “racist,” or “conspiracy theorist” who dares believe otherwise.
This movie is not woke, as nearly everyone agrees that child exploitation is bad.
Max, then you and other conservatives have changed the meaning of woke from its original intent. Also, I have never had a viewpoint crammed done my throat. This seems to be a favorite conservative talking point and exaggeration. The air around you is woke. Everything offends you guys. Gays, minorities, trans, feminists, books you don’t agree with, drag shows, etc. The sky is always falling and the world is always ending.
Yep
It’s not crammed down your throat because you completely agree with it
Um …. the sky is always falling and the world is always ending? We aren’t the ones saying the Angry Sun God will destroy the world in 8 years, 6 months and 17 days because of our energy sins.
And books we don’t like? Who was it who banned the Bible from public schools? Hint – it wasn’t us.
Nail on the head
You obviously do not understand what the definition for “woke” is with regards to liberals insane views.
Woke is not in reference to be awaken. ♂️
It is a wake up call! And maybe the left’s movements are wake up calls too. BUT we may not feel woke to the same issues. The left is free topress and declare what they care about. But most of their issues are not issues that I feel concerned about. Just the same, the left may not be concerned much about the issues in Sounds of Freedom or what I consider important. . We are all free to decide what we care about.
WHY wouldn’t EVERY decent human being care about pedophiles child trafficking our children???
woke is hate, none of that here. you need the media or disney, maybe some other pedophile supporter, maybe joe?
An open mind is one thing, an empty head is another. For me, being woke is to break from shared, objective norms to embrace new norms that are based on feelings rather than truth. Just a few years ago, we all knew what a woman was, and that sexualizing school and Disney movies was bad. Selling kids as sex slaves should be a shared objective truth AND a message worth driving. This movie would be considered normal and even important by almost everyone if it came out pre-2010.
It’s got nothing to do with that. Woke means to be indoctrinated and to just agree with what ever it is you are told. You have to go along with the narrative. This movie goes against the narrative. Mainly it shines a light on trafficking, especially that of young children. This is a huge problem at the border however they don’t want you to know that because it destroys the lefts claim that they care about “the children”. Clearly they don’t.
That is absurd. Woke is not righteous, woke is feigned concern and virtue signaling while avoiding actual problems or their solutions. Sound of Freedom tells a true story that treats difficult issues and increases awareness without being woke preachy.
You sound vccinated
This film Should be message driven because the message is to save the children from the secret sex trafficking that is killing and traumatizing them!!!! This film is EXPOSURE and WAKE UP to Not let these children be abused!
Woke is adhering to CRT, anti-racism, transgenderism, etc. All the liberal isms that make no sense to the normal person. Trying to change the definition now because it has become an epithet is just pitiful.