Sound of Freedom has officially entered sleeper-hit territory. Made for less than $15M by Utah’s faith-based Angel Studios, the film has had an unprecedented run for an arthouse/indie movie in post-pandemic theaters- and whether or not the film is for you, that’s a milestone to be celebrated indeed. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, celebrates the latest news with us.
Over $100M at the Box Office
In the post-pandemic landscape, $100M is a decent taking in the first 2 weeks for any film, let alone one of Sound of Freedom’s size and original budget. While the film is still tracking highly in the South and center of the country, its two most anticipated markets, its overall performance has been phenomenal compared to expectations.
The film managed to out-perform Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in its opening weekend, drawing unprecedented media attention due to the incongruity, which has likely helped boost ticket sales as well. It has managed to stay unprecedentedly high since then, staying at third place in its second weekend, and rising to second over the next. Additionally, that rise represented a 39% week-on-week jump, something rarely seen.
New Locations
With the attention it has attracted, many cinemas are now keen to squeeze it into their lineups, especially as some other summer offerings slump. It spent last weekend playing at 3,287 locations. In doing so, it is also managing to serve as living proof that the market for small-budget, non-tentpole films is not dead. That’s a tired inaccuracy we’ve heard repeated again and again since the pandemic, especially with the older demographic reluctant to return to theaters until the last twelve months.
The indie film’s appeal at the box office is far from dead, and there could be little better proof of that than this remarkable, near run-away, success story. Here’s hoping we see many more.
