Jim Caviezel drama Sound Of Freedom has coasted past $100m in North America heading into a weekend when all eyes will be on the combined box office of new arrivals Barbie and Oppenheimer.
The faith-based story reached the milestone on its 16th day of release after $4.7m elevated the running total to $100.9m.
It tells of a former government agent turned vigilante who rescues hundreds of children from a sex trafficking ring and is released by Angel Studios. The film is based on the story of former federal agent Tim Ballard who founded the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad.
It is a remarkable accomplishment for a hitherto little-known title that reportedly cost around $15m and made a name for itself when it opened over the June 30-July 4 holiday weekend in fourth place on $14m from 2,634 sites.
Last weekend Sound Of Freedom climbed 38% after Angel expanded the theatre count by 413 to 3,265 and it ranked number two behind Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One. It is expected to surge past Warner Bros/DC flop The Flash – which cost considerably more to make and currently sits on $107.2m – within days.
Angel Studios crowd-funded the marketing and the film ends with a “pay if forward” message from Caviezel urging viewers to buy tickets to allow others to see it.
The film has been championed by Republicans – former president Donald Trump recently hosted a private screening – and has become mired in controversy.
Caviezel (The Passion Of The Christ) has repeated the baseless Q Anon conspiracy theory that an elite group abuses and kills children to extract adrenochrome, a chemical compound once believed to be a possible cause of schizophrenia.
Sound Of Freedom itself makes no reference to adrenochrome and Angel Studios has distanced itself from the conspiracy theory.
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