The faith-based movie Sound of Freedom continues to make waves in theaters – this time – becoming the no. 1 movie in 18 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
In South and Central America, the film sold two million advance tickets in four days – a feat that was accomplished in the U.S. in a week.
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“We’re seeing packed theaters, standing ovations, widespread enthusiasm, and strong word-of-mouth from Buenos Aires to Mexico City to Bogota to Caracas, Lima, and beyond,” Angel Studios’ Chief Distribution Officer Jared Geesey told Newsweek.
The film has also outperformed mega-franchises Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in international markets where faith-based films often perform relatively low.
Movie blogger and box office expert Paul Ferrer told Newsweek he didn’t expect the film to do so well.
“While ‘Sound of Freedom’ was a huge success in the U.S. these films don’t travel well outside the U.S.,” he said.
“Sony have had huge success with their Affirm Studios but the majority of box office came from the U.S.,” Ferrer said. “You only need to see how films like ‘Heaven is for Real’ and the recent George Foreman film took 90 percent U.S. and 10 percent international.”
“Sound of Freedom” also hit the No. 1 spot in New Zealand, the No. 2 spot in Australia and South Africa, and the No. 4 spot in the United Kingdom on opening weekend.
The movie has earned more than $7 million overseas since opening in international theaters in late August.
The film’s writer and director, Alejandro Monteverde, says he is not surprised by the film’s success, especially in Latin America.
“We were told we only have a 1 percent chance to be successful, but it was our audience that came out and defended [the movie]…and it’s thanks to the audience that we survived the attacks,” he told Newsweek.
He added, “In Mexico, we have more access to media and they also know who we are. They know our work and our last film did really well in Mexico.”
As CBN News reported, the movie is based on a true story. It stars Jim Caviezel as federal agent Tim Ballard who had been working in the Child Crimes unit for 12 years, but was beginning to lose hope. He rescues a seven-year-old boy who was kidnapped, along with his sister, by brutal traffickers. When the boy asks Tim to find his sister, Tim discovers his life’s mission: rescuing children from sex slavery.
Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino and Bill Camp also star in the film.
The movie became the surprise hit of the summer in the U.S. becoming the 10th highest-grossing movie of 2023. It made $182 million in domestic box office revenue on a $15 million budget.
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