Some controversy is slowly brewing in Angel Studios’ thriller “Sound of Freedom.” trailer can be seen Here,
The film, whose shooting was completed in 2018, released today. Surprise: Ticket sales are huge. The film, starring Jim Caviezel, will be shown in 2,600 locations and is projected to earn $20 million in its opening week.
These figures are astonishing for a film that isn’t an IP and that barely has a major star to its name, unless you count Caviezel, or Bill Camp and Mira Sorvino, as major attractions.
“Sound of Freedom” was actually a Fox film before Disney bought the company. Caviezel has claimed that Disney tried to kill him during the project’s production. He is also saying that the film is set to beat “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” by a “3 to 1” margin.
Deadline’s Antony D’Alessandro says rival studios are eyeing this semi-make-believe, true-story film as it prepares to become the most profitable indie film of the year by a wide margin.
The film, about former Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) who “took it upon himself to rescue kidnapped children from around the world,” sold over 2 million tickets in pre-sales.
So, why so much hate on this movie? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Angel Studios releases predominantly conservative material, which is so rare in Hollywood it’s practically non-existent. Second, Caviezel has become, much like Mel Gibson, an icon.
Caviezel is very religious and very conservative. He mentions the need to “fight child sex trafficking, the devil and liberal values”. He is very Christian. For example, in 2001, during the filming of “Angel Eyes”, Caviezel requested that he wear a shirt during a love scene out of respect for his wife and that his co-star Jennifer Lopez wear a top.
It appears that Caviezel’s beliefs have rubbed off on all the wrong people in Hollywood, to the extent that he’s virtually only starred in Christian-themed films for the past ten years.
Caviezel recently admitted to a Interview that one of his very good friends, Mel Gibson, cried while watching “Sound of Freedom”.
I showed the film to two Academy Award winning film directors. Both of them were stunned. One of them is my good friend Mel Gibson. The other prefers to remain anonymous. Mel was crying.
Caviezel continued, “In a fair world, (“Sound of Freedom”) would win Best Picture (Oscar), but like ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ they wouldn’t touch it.”
Reciting the words of Walt Huntley’s poem “God’s Hall of Fame”, Caviezel said, “‘May your name not appear in this world’s Hall of Fame. In fact, you may be so unknown that no one Doesn’t even know your name.
Caviezel continued, “Oscars and the admiration of men may never get you, but don’t forget that God has rewards that He will give you someday.”
So, who’s going to start an Oscar campaign for this?