A marketing campaign targeted to conservatives puts the Jim Caviezel drama on the verge of passing ”The Flash“ at the domestic box office
This past weekend “Sound of Freedom” cracked the top 20 highest grossing films of 2023 so far, passing big studio titles like “Cocaine Bear” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” Over the next two days it will pass the domestic totals of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “M3GAN,” and should pass the $106 million total of “The Flash” by Sunday.
“We started with a strong base in our Angel Studios supporters, who have provided us with a constant dialogue about what projects they want to see that I have never seen anywhere else in my career,” Brandon Purdie, Angel Studios’ head of theatrical distribution, told TheWrap.
“But from there, it has grown into something that has reached a far larger audience. There’s no other film in July that has grown from its first to second weekend like ‘Sound of Freedom,’” he added. “I think people heard not only about this movie but about how it has had this ‘Hamilton’ effect where people have to buy tickets in advance because screenings that day at their local theater are all sold out.”
But the Jim Caviezel vehicle has stirred up controversy and conspiracy theories along the way, with some on social media questioning its innovative ticket donation campaign for generating more sales and questions of whether those sold out theaters are authentic.
Building relationships
Movie theater owners who spoke with TheWrap said the Utah-based, crowdfunded studio went the extra mile in building relationships with exhibitors. Angel already had a foothold in theaters thanks to the special engagement screenings of “The Chosen,” a free-to-stream series about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ that was brought to theaters by Fathom Events and got support from fans, with a 2021 Christmas special grossing $13.7 million against a $250,000 budget.
Faith-based films have been known for getting strong word of mouth within its core audience, with movies like Lionsgate/Kingdom Story Company’s “Jesus Revolution” grossing $53 million earlier this year. But “Sound of Freedom” has taken a different path, going from a $14 million opening day and a $19.8 million first weekend to a $27.2 million second weekend.
“We first connected with Angel Studios this past spring at CinemaCon, where they showed an extended clip of the film at one of the luncheons,” said Rich Daughtridge, president and CEO of Warehouse Cinemas and president of the Independent Cinema Alliance. The alliance has a pilot program where ICA member theaters promote films to their email lists and social media followers, he said.
“We had multiple sellouts at Warehouse Cinemas, and it just kept accelerating through the weekend and into the next,” Daughtridge said.
Along with the strong word of mouth among evangelicals and conservatives, “Sound of Freedom” has been buoyed by a “Pay It Forward” campaign that takes a page from the crowdfunding system that Angel Studios used to produce “The Chosen” and other productions.
The program, which is promoted at the end of the film, invites fans to buy tickets for others to claim for free. Those who wish to see “Sound of Freedom” using one of these free tickets must set up an account on the Angel Studios website where they can select a screening time at a local theater and receive a code that can be redeemed at Fandango or Atom Tickets, depending on which system is used by the selected theater, for the free ticket.
When Angel Studios set up the program on its website it set a public goal to sell 2 million tickets — either bought by moviegoers for themselves or for others to claim for free — to acknowledge the 2 million children estimated to be trafficked globally, which ties into the subject matter of the film. Since then, the site has sold 8.5 million tickets.
Conspiracy theories
Controversy around the program, though, has become part of the larger culture war surrounding the film, which major Republican figures like former President Donald Trump and commentator Ben Shapiro have championed.
As the call by fans of “Sound of Freedom” to see the film has gotten louder and louder, conspiracy theories have spread on social media claiming that AMC Theatres deliberately impeded people from seeing the movie. AMC CEO Adam Aron condemned the accusations on Twitter, while Angel Studios released a statement calling the chain an “outstanding partner” that added more screen times nationwide as the film’s popularity grew.
On the flip side, there have been other social media posts claiming that screenings that were sold out online were barely filled at show time, leading to accusations that the “Pay It Forward” program was leading to sellout screenings where the majority of tickets bought went unused.
While Fandango didn’t respond to requests for comment, Angel Studios said it has seen a “high rate” of donated tickets being redeemed. The owners of three independent chains told TheWrap that they have not seen any sign that seats at sellout screenings of “Sound of Freedom” went unfilled.
“On our end, we don’t see the difference between a ticket that a person buys themselves and a ticket that is redeemed through the ‘Pay it Forward’ code,” said Chris Johnson, owner of the Illinois chain Classic Cinemas. “But we have had repeated sellouts of the film over the past two weeks, and when those screenings sell out, people show up.”
Not only did “Sound of Freedom” increase its second weekend total by 38%, it added 413 theaters to its play count. And despite immense competition from “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer” and “Mission: Impossible 7,” Angel Studios said it’s maintaining its screen count this weekend and looks to add more theaters for “Sound of Freedom” next weekend.
Beyond this run, “Sound of Freedom” has set Angel Studios up to be a bigger player at the box office as the fervent following it built with “The Chosen” has grown exponentially and far beyond what other faith-based studios have been able to achieve.
“This is the end result of years of work Angel Studios has put in building relationships with evangelical audiences and creating titles they want to support,” said Boxoffice editor Daniel Loria. “They’ve figured out how exactly to market to their core audience and to build the sort of free marketing that can turn an indie film into a viral hit.”
As for Purdie, he feels like “Sound of Freedom,” along with the campaign surrounding it to raise awareness of the film and of child trafficking, has galvanized those who have seen the film.
“Think of a movie or a documentary that tackles a major issue: You leave the theater thinking about how you want to take action and want others to hear about this film, but there’s no outlet for it,” he said. “But if I could, in that moment, buy tickets for other people to go to the theater and see a movie that moved me — I would have done it for a dozen films I’ve seen over the years like ‘Spotlight’ — and we’re giving those who have seen ‘Sound of Freedom’ that opportunity.”
