‘Sound of Freedom’ Distributor Angel Studios Responds To Social Media Reports That AMC Theaters Is Suppressing The Film

John F. Trent |

Jul 13, 2023

Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (2023), Angel Studios

Angel Studios, the distributor for Sound of Freedom, issued a statement responding to a number of social media reports that AMC Theaters are suppressing the film by shutting off air conditioning in theaters or creating other emergencies to have moviegoers vacate their theaters.

In a press release, Angel Studios’ Head of Angel Theatrical Distribution Brandon Purdie responded to these reports saying, “We understand there are rumors—predominantly in social media—that AMC theaters have made it difficult for fans to see SOUND of FREEDOM in local AMC theaters, and we want to make it clear these rumors are not accurate.”

He continued, “AMC has been an outstanding partner for Angel Studios, and in fact, as a result of the movie’s performance and consumer demand, AMC has agreed to add additional screens for SOUND OF FREEDOM this weekend.”

“Angel Studios and the producers of SOUND OF FREEDOM are asking our fans to support AMC, and all of our other theatrical partners,” Purdie added. “Summer is the busiest season for people working in theaters, so we ask that anyone attending a screening of SOUND OF FREEDOM show kindness to their local theater staff. We have the best movie fans in the business. Let’s continue to show theaters the love that Angel supporters are known for.”

This statement from Angel Studios and Brandon Purdie comes after AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron also responded to these social media reports on Twitter. He wrote, “Really bizarre [Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt] floating around Twitter that we are suppressing attendance for Sound of Freedom. Yesterday we showed that movie 3,000 times at our 570 U.S. theatres and more than 100,000 people watched it at AMC Theaters.”

Aron added, “Misinformation on Twitter is astonishing. Bots? Haters?”

In a follow-up tweet he also wrote, “Let’s put this ridiculous conspiracy theory to bed. Fri/Sat more than 250,000 people watched Sound of Freedom at AMC in the U.S.”

He then quoted Angel Studios Head of Distribution writing, “Angel Studios Head of Distribution: ‘No other theater chain in the world has shown more support for Sound of Freedom and Angel Studios than AMC.’”

Angel Studios co-founder Jeffrey Harmon responded to Aron’s original tweet writing, “Adam, I’m a cofounder at Angel Studios and I want to personally thank you for how amazing of a partner you have been. Many of your managers have reached out to me and personally told me they love what is happening and have worked so hard to bring a great experience to sound of freedom fans.”

Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon also responded to Aron’s first tweet writing, “We are so grateful that you stepped up to support this film. Thank you for your partnership.”

A number of viral videos, mainly circulating on TikTok, claim that AMC Theaters are suppressing the film. In one user isntsheadaisy shares a video of a woman saying, “So I’ve been seeing all over TikTok that people are going to watch the movie the Sound of Freedom and these weird things are happening like random emergency evacuations, the air conditioning not working and having to leave the theater.”

“And I thought, ‘No, that’s probably just something that’s happening in other theaters in other places.’ So I took me and my daughters to go watch the Sound of Freedom today and about an hour and 20 minutes into the movie we get a random emergency evacuation. None of the staff knows what’s going on. The mall wasn’t being evacuated; just the theater. All they did was refund us our money with no explanation.”

She concluded, “But I guess you can call me a conspiracy theorist.”

@isntsheadaisy Whats going on??? Anyone else experiencing this??? #soundoffreedommovie #emergencyevacuation #whatsgoingon #godschildrenarenotforsale #timballard @SOUND OF FREEDOM OFFICIAL @SOFFilm ♬ original sound – Darcy

Another TikTok user, bleighve1112 shared a video with another woman saying, “So don’t know if any one of you have already been to see the Sound of Freedom, but my friends and I just walked out and we are curious what your experiences were in the movie theater because we pre-ordered our tickets, paid for them, they were claimed, got the link sent, and this was an AMC theater in Pineville, North Carolina.”

She continued, “Some point today the tickets got refunded to my friend and we couldn’t figure out why. So we come, anyways, to the theater after dinner and they’re like, ‘Oh, well, we refunded all the tickets because there’s no air conditioning in our theaters.’ Okay, whatever, we don’t care. ‘Are you still showing it?’ ‘Yeah, you can still watch it.’

“So we get to thinking, ‘Why did they not send out a notice in the email saying, ‘Hey, we refunded your tickets because there’s no air conditioning.’ And we just are curious why they didn’t let us know. There was no one in that theater. It was us four and four other people. Eight people in the theater on a Friday night. There was air conditioning in the lobby. There was air conditioning in the hallways. There was air conditioning in the bathrooms. Not the theaters? They don’t have the bartender or any thing in the theater? I smell something stinky and I think it’s s**t,” she concluded.

@bleighve1112 ♬ original sound – Bleighve1112

Sound of Freedom has currently grossed $53.9 million domestically since it initially premiered on July 4th. The film was the number one movie in the country on July 4th. In its first weekend it took third place at the box office behind Insidious: The Red Door and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The film returned to the top of the box office on July 10th besting both Insidious: The Red Door and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It was most recently knocked off the top spot by Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.