Starring Christian actor, Jim Caviezel, the faith-based movie, Sounds of Freedom, was the number one movie in America on Independence Day (July 4, 2023), Faithwire reports.
With $14.2 million in sales, it even beat out Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
The movie is based on the story of a Homeland Security agent, Tim Ballard, who left the federal agency after a 12 year career to fight human trafficking.
His decision to leave came after he rescued a seven-year-old boy from traffickers trying to enter the US from Mexico. When the young boy asked Ballard what happened to his sister, he finds out the brother and sister had been separated after being kidnapped in Columbia. When Homeland turned down Ballard’s request to continue his search for the girl in Columbia, he resigned the agency to pursue her on his own.
Ballard and his wife subsequently ended up starting Operation Underground Railroad in 2013 which has so far rescued over 6,000 people from human traffickers, many of them children, and resulted in the arrests of over 5,000 criminals.
In an interview with CBN, Tim Ballard said when he was approached by producers in 2017 about the movie and was asked who he would like to see play him, he immediately responded with Jim Caviezel.
“Right out of the gate, I knew who I wanted. ‘If this is a real question, the answer is Jim Caviezel,’ Ballard said. “I don’t know these actors. I know Jim Caviezel loves Jesus. And that’s the only real requirement I have.”
When the producers with Angel Studio contacted Caviezel about the role four days later, they were surprised to find out that he had a personal experience with human trafficking.
Analysts believe the movie could hit $20 million in sales by week’s end.
Its success was due in part to a new technology implemented by Angel Studios called Pay It Forward, which allows people to purchase tickets for other individuals that they would like to see the film.
The movie has also done well on Rotten Tomatoes where it received an 88% reviewer approval rating and a 100% audience score.
In her review for Pauline Center for Media Studies, Sister Hosea Rupprecht writes:
‘Sound of Freedom’ plays like an action thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat at the same time as being a drama about Tim’s first foray into rescuing trafficked kids. Caviezel’s acting is spot on as he expresses Tim’s horror at the reality these victims have endured and his determination to liberate them. Lucas Avila as Miguel is magnificent at conveying the intense emotion of a trafficking victim coupled with the innocence of a child who just wants his sister back. A troubling aspect of the film, though, is that it makes integration back into “normal” life after being exploited look too easy.
READ: ‘Sound of Freedom’ Film Rated No. 1 Movie in America: ‘Truly Awe-Inspiring’ AND ‘Operation Underground Railroad’: 6,000 Trafficking Victims Rescued, True Story Hits Big Screen
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