Angel Studios' 'Sound of Freedom' passes $50 million at the US box office

"Sound of Freedom" crossed the $50 million mark at the U.S. box office on Wednesday, according to Deadline.

The independent action thriller, produced by Angel Studios and starring Jim Caviezel, has become a surprise summer hit, raking in $53.4 million against a $14.5 million budget since its premiere on July 4.

The film placed second behind Paramount's "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One," which opened on Wednesday with a box office take of $16 million.

On its first day, "Sound of Freedom" became the number 1 Fourth of July movie, grossing over $14 million through "pay it forward" and direct box office sales.

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Over "Sound of Freedom's" opening weekend, the movie came in third behind Sony/Stage 6 Films/Blumhouse’s "Insidious: The Red Door" and Disney/Lucasfilm’s "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

According to Box Office Mojo, "Sound of Freedom" now ranks number 22 on the top 25 highest-grossing movies of 2023 to date. 

The film has surpassed a number of major studio releases on the list including Sony Pictures Entertainment's "No Hard Feelings," Paramount's "80 For Brady," Universal's "Knock at the Cabin" and Warner Bros.' "Magic Mike's Last Dance."

"Sound of Freedom" is based on the true story of former federal agent Tim Ballard and his mission to save children from human trafficking. Caviezel, who played Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's 2004 biblical epic "The Passion of the Christ," stars as Ballard alongside Mira Sorvino and Bill Camp.

The movie was directed by Mexican director Alejandro Gómez Monteverde, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rod Barr. "Sound of Freedom" was produced by Eduardo Verástegui, who also has a supporting role in the film.

Development on the script for "Sound of Freedom" began in 2015 and the movie completed production in 2018. 20th Century Fox picked up the distribution rights in 2018, but the movie was shelved by the Walt Disney Company when it bought the studio in 2019. 

Earlier this week, a Disney spokesperson told Newsweek,"[Disney] studios had no knowledge of the film given the nature of the international acquisition pre-merger."

Angel Studios acquired the distribution rights to "Sound of Freedom" in March.

"Sound of Freedom" is currently playing in 2,852 theaters across the country and Angel Studios plans to add 300 more venues, per Deadline.

The movie currently enjoys a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with a 76% certified fresh rating among critics. It also notched an A+ from audiences on Cinemascore.

However, several media outlets have slammed "Sound of Freedom" as "QAnon-adjacent," "fit for QAnon" and a "box office triumph for QAnon" in recent days. 

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Rolling Stone, the U.K. publication The Guardian and website Jezebel are among the outlets that claimed the film was linked to QAnon, a right-wing community that has been accused of buying into fringe conspiracy theories. 

Ballard, who founded the child rescue non-profit organization known as Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), addressed the QAnon claims during a Monday appearance on "Fox & Friends."

"I can't explain, and neither can they," he said. "Every show I've seen, they just like to throw the word out, QAnon. They make zero connection to the actual story. It's very difficult to make that connection when it's actually based on a true story."

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The former DHS investigator emphasized that every child and villain represented in the movie were based on actual events, calling it "sick" for people to come out against the film and compare it to conspiracies. 

"This is just some other agenda, who would want to get the backs or run interference for pedophiles and human traffickers? That's the more important question in all this. Why would you want to lie to push an agenda whose goal is to have children be in captivity? It's kind of sick," said Ballard.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Heckman contributed to this report.