The recently released Sound of Freedom film starring Jim Caviezel defeated Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the box office on Independence Day.
As reported by The-Numbers the Angel Studios distributed Sound of Freedom was the top film at the box office on July 4, the day that the film released. It grossed $14.2 million while in 2,634 theaters. The film grossed an average of $5,407 per theater.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came in second with a daily gross of $11.6 million while being in 4,600 theaters. The film only grossed $2,543 per theater.
Rounding out the top five were Elemental, which grossed $2.7 million, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed $2.6 million and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts grossed $1.6 million.
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The box office haul comes after Angel Studios co-founder Jeffrey Harmon indicated numerous potential moviegoers were actually being turned away from theaters because showings were sold out.
He tweeted yesterday night, “Sound of Freedom and Angel Studios are in a full on theatrical dogfight this week for additional showtimes and larger auditoriums against the biggest studios in the world. We are having sellouts nationwide, but so many are being turned away because there are no seats left.”
Harmon added, “This was exactly the strategy. But it’s a miracle it’s actually working. The only way for an startup studio to enter theatrical on the 4th of July is by brute force. Our team has voluntarily put in calculable hours because they can sense this can rescue many children. It’s an honor to get a small part of such a significant movement.”
In a follow-up he elaborated, “A couple of weeks ago one of my co-workers did a 100+ hr work week. I called and asked him how he was holding up. He said, “I know this isn’t good for my longterm health, but I just keep thinking if I can move the needle a little more, maybe I can save another child.'”
“It makes my heart take courage to see so much self sacrifice for these kids. To see celebrities, and influencers, and businesses, and families stepping up to take beatings on social media for angel and sound of freedom. It’s astonishing and miraculous to see this wave of support,” Harmon concluded.
In a press release celebrating the box office achievement, Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon stated, “Thanks to fans around the country, SOUND OF FREEDOM earned the top spot as America’s number one movie on Independence Day. We’ve received numerous messages telling us theaters are either packed or sold out. This movie has now taken on a life of its own to become something more than that, a grassroots movement.”
He also remarked, “With an A+ CinemaScore rating, we’re the top-rated movie in America, and we’re going to see word-of-mouth spread even further going into the weekend. The world needs to see SOUND OF FREEDOM, and we know that our biggest competitive advantage—our incredible fans and investors—are going to make sure that happens.”
The company noted that they grossed $11.5 million directly through the box office and added another $2.6 million through their Pay It Forward ticket campaign for a total of $14.2 million.
The press release explains the Pay It Forward technology “empowers moviegoers to purchase tickets for other people whom they want to see a particular film.”
Ironically, Sound of Freedom defeating Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny comes after Angel Studios President Jordan Harmon remarked that Disney shelved the film after they acquired the rights when they purchased Fox.
He said, “Fox was originally going to distribute it. Then Disney buys Fox and for whatever reason Disney shelves it.”
“And it took you, and your team, and Eduardo a year to basically get the rights back,” he remarked to the film’s director Alejandro Monteverde.
Harmon would later clarify these comments in an email communication to Bounding Into Comics telling us, “To clarify my earlier comment, Disney didn’t distribute Sound of Freedom for reasons unknown to us. We are grateful to be the distributor for this important film.”
Following Harmon’s comments, the film’s star Jim Caviezel, who plays former DHS agent Tim Ballard, noted the film lost all of its funding due to Disney’s purchase of Fox.
He told Drew Mariania on The Drew Mariani Show, “At one point we lost all of our money because Fox got bought out by Disney. So Disney is holding the purse strings here. We lose the film. Eddie goes out and gets us $5 million bucks and saves the movie.”
“You weren’t supposed to see this. This is a movie they do not want you to see,” Caviezel asserted. “And we are fastly selling out our theaters right now and we need the people to call to get more theaters.”
While the film beat Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, it is unlikely it will best The Walt Disney Company’s domestic box office for the film. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny had an opening weekend of $60 million and has since gone on to earn a total of $83.8 million at the domestic box office. Overall the film has globally grossed $153.4 million.
Sound of Freedom is the highest grossing film from Angel Studios. It best the distributors first release earlier this year His Only Son. That film grossed $12 million over the course of 17 days at the box office in the beginning of April.
What do you make of Sound of Freedom besting Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the box office on Independence Day?