Anything Goes : With a 14.5 million dollar budget, Sound of Freedom tops $100,000,000. Wow! by Anthony Murphy

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1189066585/christian-thriller-sound-of-fr...

That's really impressive, Anthony Murphy! I haven't seen "Sound of Freedom," but Gareth Taylor shot the US portion of the film (www.stage32.com/lounge/introduce_yourself/Hello-world-and-lets-celebrate...).

E Langley I'm not QAnon, and probably wont see the film. LOL. But the fact that such a small budgeted film rivaled "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" in its opening weekend makes it worthy of discussion, I thought.

Wonderful film! Fantastic acting, cinematography, heart felt and it’s based on a true story. The movie has been on the shelf for 5 years and was shot before anybody ever heard of QAnon, so there goes that slight. The movie is about real world child trafficking. They have been fighting the industry just to get it released. It has made over 100 million in domestic alone…it hasn’t been released internationally. Go see it! This film will do over 200 million on a 14 million dollar budget. It is not a Christian movie, and it should not be controversial. Hollywood has got to start making better choices.

Curt Samlaska Curt, I posted a NPR article link above about the film that you may find interesting.

Not an NPR fan and the article is essentially a hit piece. There are many links debunking these criticisms, such as the QAnon link. The statistics are real and from government sources. Look them up for yourself. The article written by Bloomberg was written by a guy that defends child trafficking as a source of income for these impoverished kids. Watch some of the interviews from the actors, producers, etc. responding to these criticisms. Then decide for yourself. This is a serious film about a serious problem and the United States is the largest offender. Let’s save as many kids as we can…

Thanks for sharing the article, Anthony Murphy. I would like to note that the compound adrenochrome mentioned above is actually synthesized in biotechnology companies for research purposes; it has no current medical application.

https://youtu.be/oNghKbk_bQM

Abeeha Alam You are welcome. I personally think NPR does outstanding journalism, but I'll watch the movie and judge it for myself.

Sigh. I don’t believe adrenochrome is even mentioned in the movie. I’m at a horse show, but when I get back I will research it and post my findings. Focus on the topic and not the conspiracies…although conspiracies always make for good movie themes. Go see the film.

LOL…I come in peace. I just want to focus on the movie…

E Langley. Wow. That explains the film’s success. Go see it…might change your mind. Then you will understand why it is doing so well. I will purchase a ticket for you. Seriously…

My entire family in other parts of the country have seen it and say it's great. I'm looking for it to see it this weekend. Faith based films are rallying high-school, churches and college campuses right now and I'm going to go with no political bias as ages16-30 is the demographic I know best.

Ryker Baloun I 'm going to watch it now and do as you say--bring no bias. I'm intrigued at this point.

Sigh. I tried…. Let us know what you think John. The child actors are amazing…

So much hubbub about. Why can't a movie be entertaining without people politicizing it--- not just the detractors but the creators as well? It's exhausting.

Curt Samlaska I will, Curt. And, even though we may not agree politically, thank you for your courteous manner.

You are welcome John. I try to discuss and present my point of view, I do not bludgeon people. I have seen the film so I think I can express my opinion. The sad thing is that this feature should not be political…but people keep trying to make it so. You will see after seeing the film. I am really looking forward to your point of view. Best to you and much success.

@Curt Samlaska Curt, I'll make sure to contact you and share my opinion. And thank you for your well wishes. And I wish you the best.

In regard to the OP -- they have used some aggressive marketing ploys to make those numbers happen, such as "donating" ticket purchases etc., The distributor is a faith-based crowd-funding/ crowd-sourcing platform, so there is a lot to be said for the ability to speak to their base. And it is a reflection of how big that base is in this country whether we like it or subscribe to the belief system or not. It's a combination of financial reporting trickery and a large crowd source (plus non-stop paid marketing that encourages you to "donate tickets.")

Certainly some marketing lessons to be learned, but there will be more analysis coming out on this in the trades in the coming days.

Laurie Ashbourne Thank you for explaining the marketing of the film.

FWIW here are the figures for Indiana Jones to-date: $154,218,862

International (50.6%)

$157,924,132

Worldwide

$312,142,994

And here are Freedom: Domestic (100%)

$110,314,440

International (–)

–

Worldwide

$110,314,440

Laurie Ashbourne Indiana Jones had a 295 million dollar budget; Freedom had a 14.5 million dollar budget, but as you said, perhaps that is bloated through slick marketing, but still an amazingly profitable little film.

https://www.angel.com/tickets/sound-of-freedom?zip=92505&date=2023-07-22

Here is the link to Angel Studios so you can follow yourself. Brilliant marketing…. Remember these are just domestic numbers…not overseas yet. Trickery? Please try to be objective. Comments like that make you look like you have an agenda.

Anthony Murphy No doubt. As I said, "Certainly some marketing lessons to be learned."

Curt Samlaska My post was completely pragmatic and non-biased. DO NOT TRY TO PUT INFERENCE IN MY WORDS. I have an education in the scientific analysis of marketing. Trickery is the name of the game. I am also well aware of the numbers games that go into film accounting. If you read my post without YOUR AGENDA you will see that it is rational.

These numbers are mind blowing:

Based on that, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny needs to make $1 billion to break even if its budget is $400 million, and based on earlier reports of a $300 million budget, Indiana Jones 5 would still need $750 million to break even. As of right now, the movie isn't even halfway there.

Maurice Vaughan Yeah, I saw Garreth's post in Introduce Yourself. He's an accomplished cinematographer, very impressive.

The final production budget of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is reported to be about $294,700,000. Not only does this make Lucasfilm's latest feature the biggest budget Indiana Jones film, but it also makes it the thirteenth most expensive movie ever made, coming in behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Justice League, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Again, that's not even including the advertising costs, which likely range between $100 to $200 million. Just to break even, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will need to make just shy of $600 million. In order to be considered a success, the film will need to make around $800 million, which is going to be a remarkably tough goal given how the film has been performing so far. The studio will take a write off (as they usually find a way to do even with films that are more successful) but it will also continue to generate money for many years in other arenas.

In the coming days/weeks marketing costs for Freedom will looked at, but given the business model of the studio they are most likely going to be assumed based on media buys.

Somewhere online is an infamous breakdown on how WB claimed the breakdown on the original Harry Potter had them losing money.

Laurie…so trickery is just part of the marketing and everybody does it, like Disney in counting their numbers, and charging themselves for streaming to boost profits. Okay. I can accept that. So if everybody does it, why even mention it? The way you worded it I believe most people would interpret it as a negative comment. If they do a feature for me I would love to have the trickery. Respectfully. We could learn much from their marketing don’t you think? Appreciate your thoughts….

Curt Samlaska Most people in the business, especially screenwriters, know of this, because Net Profit Points are how the suits rip writers off: “A percentage of the net is a percentage of nothing.”

Curt Samlaska https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/reader-question-do-screenwriters-get-...

Hey John. I understand that but marketing trickery increases your net sales which doesn’t take into account for expenses, at least that is how I interpreted it. For a 14 million dollar film to make over 100 million I’m sure the net profits are going to be massive. Particularly with little to any promotion. I interpreted market trickery as a means to increase sales numbers and, thus, increased sales…increased profits. With this low budget film I don’t see a lot of ways they could mess with whacking the net profits. I could be wrong…what do you think Laurie?

1st- The necessary preamble…

It is a miracle that any movie gets made and I don’t know any creator who goes into making a film with anything other than the intent of being able to share it with an audience everybody deserves to have their story told and they should be congratulated however they manage to do so. The information supplied here is factual and comes from industry standards and Freedom’s distributor’s own information provided to their investors.

It’s a recent phenom much like the streaming environment we live in that you can invest in a “movie studio” — there are many of them out there legion M is probably the most well-known but there are many others and Angel Studios started very similarly to Wefunder where people could invest in anything from innovative tchotchkes, to technology, to movies. I know many of films that have been crowd funded where the contributions are in exchange for a perk, this business model enables your contributions to be in exchange for a return on your investment. VidAngels return on investment is not what most investors would seek in the fine print, they look at it in a way where they encourage you to roll over the returns into an a similar project so you’re reinvested. The majority of angel studios films are selected via these crowdfunding and crowdsourcing campaigns for their members; they don’t often pick up completed projects however they did so with Sound of Freedom.

Thus becoming distributors much like any of us would look for a distributor for our independent films.

It is common practice for distributors, studios, publicists, etc., to secure a certain number of tickets for promotions this can be anything from radio station giveaways, to Applebee’s where you get two tickets free with your Bloomin onion, to sites that specialize in coupon codes for free tickets such as Atom, and in Angel Studio‘s case they promote what they call a ‘pay it forward’ campaign where they will give you free tickets and ask for a donation for you to pay it forward. These promotional tickets, regardless of how many there are, go towards box office. It’s the same with every distributor— if you have tickets set aside, they are considered tickets sold, whether people show up in the theater or not is irrelevant. Same goes with group sales, blocks of tickets… all of that.

Opening weekend is crucial for a film because it gives distributors leverage to expand onto more screens, more screens the next weekend enable the box office to grow even more, and it opens up more ticket sales obviously. It also gives distributors leverage in the percentage they are able to earn from each ticket sale. Typically with each week the distributor or Studio gets a smaller piece of the pie and the theater gets more, so it makes sense for studios and distributors to expand their releases in the first couple of weeks. Angel studios accounted for 3 million in tickets opening weekend. They also raised an additional 5 million for promotion. via their crowdfunding model. No doubt to cover that $3 million. On top of this they have an impassioned plea by the film star at the end of the film to buy tickets for other people — to pay it forward.

The same messaging is an all of their paid advertising and social media channels which effectively restarts the cycle of free tickets. Which is about the closest thing you can get to a creating a viral campaign; something that the best marketing minds in the business can’t predict. Studios and theater owners wish they could take credit for the Barbenheimer double header phenom that is generating record breaking and actual sold out shows across the country. Grassroots marketing is almost always more effective, especially when there is a cause initiative, or the perception of one.

Without getting into hyperbole or unverifiable facts there are reports out there that many of the “sold out” showtimes have a lot of people in the theater but are not at capacity.

Here are nuts and bolts of Angel Studios and Sound of Freedom:

The film was completed in 2018 and then shelved by Disney (after it acquired 20th Century Fox, the film’s original studio). Angel studios finally acquired it in early 2023 for distribution after it was bought back. The Angel studios model is as mentioned in my original post a crowd source/funding site (the two are different — see below). $14.5 MM in 2018 is about $17.8 MM today.

The film was made in Colombia by Angel Studios, which is owned the Harmon brothers (Neil, Jeff, Jordan and Daniel) and Benton Crane. They are all members of the Church of Latter Day Saints. They say they’ve perfected a technology called Pay it Forward, in which people can buy tickets for others who don’t have the funds to get their own. The Harmons tout themselves as viral marketing experts who have produced other top viral ads for companies including Squatty Potty, FiberFix, OraBrush, Poo~Pourri and Purple. They’re based in Provo, Utah.

Sound of Freedom raised $5MM through angel funding for P&A from 7,134 People (avg.$700/person

Angel Studios Model

Sound of Freedom plans to bring this heroic movie to life in a way that traditional Hollywood has never done before, utilizing the innovative model of Angel Studios. Angel Studios is a film studio platform that helps creators come together with viewers to create high-quality TV and film without the Hollywood guesswork. How do we do that? Angel Studios’ uses a platform called the Angel Guild to pitch TV content to you, and then you --the audience-- chooses which projects qualify to be potentially distributed by Angel Studios. By partnering with its affiliated crowdfunding portal Angel Funding, Angel Studios has also innovated a way to let the audience invest in these projects to help fund their creation and for investors to share in some of the profits of films and TV series that are profitable.

Angel Studios has proven that profits are possible and several Angel Originals have already resulted in investment returns for audience members who invested in the projects. The Chosen commenced a 120% distribution of their investors’ original investment and His Only Son began paying back its P&A debt investors a 120% return.**

NOTE: 90% of independent investment models for film offer a 20% return over the initial amount invested. The rest are in the 10-20% range.

Their balance sheets have them operating at a loss YE 2022

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671941/000167194123000002/2_aud...

https://angelstudios.notion.site/Company-Strategy-7e0737b7d62f49c8a05b65...

https://invest.angel.com/

It’s worth mentioning that the majority of people find the film very well-made and no matter how the books are settled it has turned a nice profit -- just not a $100MM one.

Wow Laurie, you put some time into that! Great information! Thanks for posting it…

10 minutes tops.

We are trying to see it. It is sold out at all 3 theaters in Temecula today and we are trying to reserve seats for tomorrow, because we don't want to drive. With the buzz, regardless of marketing budget, it's going to do well.

I love when a low-budget movie does high numbers at the box office, Anthony Murphy. I think that makes Hollywood pay more attention to low-budget movies and making them.

Maurice Vaughan It's awesome when the little films win, but this is amazing profit, and with little or no marketing.

"The studio will take a write off." Do you know if studios always take write offs when movies do badly at the box office, Laurie Ashbourne?

Thanks for posting, John. Just added to my list of movies to see this summer!

Maurice Vaughan Studios do it when they do great at the box office, and that's how they rip off writers on net profits.

Sarah Kennedy Sarah, it's on my list too.

Looking forward to seeing it! I do wonder why it's so controversial. One would think that a true story about the horrors of child human trafficking wouldn't be universally accepted.

Steve Hayes I'm looking forward and I wonder too.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/07/sound-of-freedom-caviezel-ba...

"Fundamentally, people are suckers for truth...and truth is on your side, Bubba" - well memorized line from another controversial movie decades ago...

So $100M+ gross but how much will be paid to creators, like the screenwriter? (Laurie A said movie was completed 2018. How these filmmakers survive 6-7 years waiting for distribution paychecks?)

When we were at Dreamworks, we accidentally saw actual contracts paid to creators. One writer/director who created a $1B horror franchise sold the entire rights for low 7-figure single digits. 0 profit sharing. Lol no wonder Spielberg owns a $250M+ yacht

That's an interesting tidbit. Not the contract info, the part about Dreamworks. Sounds like a fascinating story. How did it happen? What were you there for?

@Dan The way most budgets/pay structures work is that the creators get paid from the production budget. So in 2018 there should have been a line item on the budget for the writer. What comes out of the distribution net are any backend points, and typically the production company/producers which in this case seems to be someone in Columbia (Eduardo Verástegui) would split revenue 50/50 once all distribution costs and investors are repaid, which in this case we wouldn't see the bottom line until next year at some point. Screenwriters (especially for indie films) are not often part of that revenue split. Every deal is negotiated separately, so it's tough to say who is getting what. But there will definitely be some byzantine books to look at based on the business model alone.

Curt Samlaska I mentioned adrenochrome to address another poster's earlier comment. I was not focusing on any conspiracies, just clarifying about the actual compound.

Abeeha Alam…thanks for the response, I didn’t take it negatively. I’m an academic internist and dermatologist, so you have peeked my interest. I research and publish on many topics so I will dig into it when I get back from my daughters horse show…respectfully. Time to hit the literature…

The story is based on the real-life experiences of a man called by God (we can't prove or disprove that) to rescue trafficked children. Until the American people put a stop to the open border policy that encourages importation of drugs, prostitution, murder, and illegal entry of terrorists, somebody has to do something to call attention to children who are "sold" multiple times a day throughout their short lives before they are killed for body parts. Sounds like a great horror story to me. What's the problem? except that it's true, of course.

My family got tickets for tonight!

That's great, Ryker!

Oppenheimer on the big screen gets my bought and paid for ticket this weekend.

This is certainly overwhelming stuff, John Murphy! Will go see this film, as soon as it hits cinemas on my side!

Curt Samlaska Dermatology is such an interesting branch of medicine. Hope your daughter's horse show went well!

@Laurie Ashbourne I can't wait to see Oppenheimer!

https://acadderm.com/blog/

Abeeha Alam, this is what I do on my day job…I love it…

So much for apocryphal tales.

I played Poker with Steven, Quentin and Marty last night. We smoked Cubans, drank top shelf Bourbon and ate BALONEY sandwiches.

They found a sizable target audience and used word of mouth to tap into a market that doesn't go out to theaters as much as they used to for a lot of reasons.

@Eon C. Rambally Eon, I think I will as well.

I think that the marketing ploy at the end was perfect. As an actor I want to tell stories that empower people and inspire change. This film was designed to be exactly that, and they dont hide it. Also, the acting was phenomenal. I don't think an anti-child sex trafficking message is controversial. It's more of a humanity-based movie than faith based.

Ryker Baloun By "marketing ploy," is that when Jim Caviezel speaks directly to the audience?

Ploy is not the right word... More like the call to action from Jim was perfect as the audience that had just been crying was motivated to purchase tickets for their friends and to start a movement. Selling children is a humanity issue. I'm still a teen myself and am mortified by the fact that it no time in history, have there been more human slaves than today (including what is considered slavery times) Many of them children.

I agree with Ryker. The movie just hit 125 million at the box office and shows no signs of slowing.

Looks like it hit over 20 million and beat Indiana Jones again, so not a one off and I believe it will continue to do well. It hits your heart hard.

It will no doubt change the way we look at box office numbers. But probably not in the way fans of the movie think it will - more in a Milli Vanilli fashion. There will be much more reporting on this in the weeks to come: https://thedeepdive.ca/is-the-success-of-sound-of-freedom-just-a-ticket-...

John Murphy, understood!

Our theater was packed. There weren't any open seats. Laurie, I don't think your Twitter sleuth is a valid media source.

Just coming back to the real world. I've never heard so much buzz about a movie. High schools and churches are sending out news letters for the movement to stop trafficking. Months ago after a stunt training a guy that worked on a similar movie told me I should see it. Everyone was watching a MMA fight, so it's resignating with different audiences. I wanted to see Oppenheimer, but happy this thread and family talked me into it. I start college next month and there's already college talk about this movie. My brother couldn't get a ticket, so he is going to have to see it this week.

It's not my Twitter sleuth. The link is to an article that includes twitter posts of theaters and ticketing. I am simply saying there is more to the box office than meets the eye. I am all for a packed a theater.

What is the controversy over this movie? I saw in one post from someone where they went into a sold out theater and showed that there was no one sitting in any of the seats but I don't know what's behind that or even if the post was true.

We live on the coast of NC, a state which was recently reported as the having the highest numbers for human trafficking. Apparently, NC is the crossroads of human traffickers.

It was packed when we went. Def a harrowing inspiration. Loved that Caviezel said the true heroes of the tale are the brother and sister who survived being trafficked.

@Chrisopher Wells

Chris, I haven't seen the movie, but from what I can ascertain, like so many other issues in America, the controversy is between the far left and the far right in American politics, when most of us are a little left or right of center, ducking volleys fired from the fringes. I posted a NPR article with the OP that gives the argument from the left. Although I personally lean left of center, I want to see the movie and judge it for myself.

That's the political controversy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe @Christopher was asking about the ticket sales (which is addressed in the lengthy post above.)

Laurie Ashbourne Oh, ok. Thank you for the correction. I didn't realize.

I apologize I felt like we are all supportive here on Stage 32 and I know I'm probably the youngest one here and I feel like these films should be supported regardless of what political side you're on. We are all human. We have people on Stage 32 that worked on this film and I feel like because of political bias people are trying to take it down when it is doing well. Like most people who have seen it, I told people to go watch It.

For the financial model this is a tremendous and clear overview that is essentially a verbal version of the post above. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5D6bxlUmuKgwDQDPAiht1x?si=x3q63PYNRiWBb...

Totally agree with you, Ryker. It's kind of mystifying to me how a film that could lead to meaningful conversations and action around the larger issue of human trafficking has been mired in controversy over ticket sales and such. There's a real villain here and it's not the studio, it's the trafficker.

There is no reason to apologize for supporting a cause or film. However, if discussing its "breakthrough" in the industry, it's important to have an open mind and look at all angles of that perspective. I encourage everyone in this business to understand the actual business. This thread includes a pretty healthy perspective on all sides -- exactly as discussion should. I encourage everyone to listen to the link I posted for a thorough and concise overview.

Ryker Baloun Child slavery is mortifying. I 've written a manuscript for a book entitled Weavers about the Indian carpet industry, which enslaves over a million children, with many millions more enslaved in other industries in India. The goal is to help make the West aware of the tiny fingers that tie their carpets. These children live in such harsh conditions that their life expectancy is fourteen years.

Thanks so much, Laurie. I'll listen to it. That is heartbreaking, John. I hope you find a good publishing home for your book.

Sarah Kennedy Thank you, Sarah.

There is so much for one to absorb here. This is one I will positively comment on for now, by Ryker Baloun. What is considered a "controversial topic", in a film? Child trafficking, relevant information and message, certainly should not be one of them, but of exposure! What in Gods gracious name is going on about this issue, is obviously a highly intelligent and intellect question and we certainly need intelligence and intellect, don't we, of course it becomes a matter of "application", again what's the issue. However on the topic of "Gods gracious name", the movie was not "faith based", but more "humanity-based'. Again what's the issue? Congratulations Ryker and everyone. Will continue following!!

I did see some buzz surrounding Sound of Freedom. It's tricky to do a historical film or any type of historical drama taken from real facts and real life.

That's correct Marcel Nault Jr. It's tricky to do historical films generally. Involves lots of criteria, including "legalities"! Recalls the question then. "What's the issue"?

Eon, the legalities are also a wall that many writers have to be confronted with. Can you not only retell history so that it makes sense for the everyday audience, but be respectful enough to recognize the legalities that come with it and to those who have witnessed an event or a character in real life?

Don’t mean to be indirect. Marcel, we all know “As entertainers”, we have to also deal with,, (besides legalities) the somewhat daunting topic “incitement”. All well and good! Here’s where advice is needed, to deal with the sweet figures… $14’5, million dollar film, that tops $ 100,000,000. PS: Reminder, on the subject of “entertainers”, there’s lots of songs on “magic’ and ‘miracles”!

Thanks for posting Anthony Murphy Also the film was not in many theaters and would have made triple that if it was. I also heard disney had the film in the can for 5 years as well.

@ Mark Deuce I heard that too. Yes, not many theaters and all domestic, so truly amazing box office, Mark

Didn’t to long finish having breakfast and coffee. With the statistics presented, are we looking at a yet to discover, “masterpiece”, of a film, as far as new concepts are concerned? Do we revert to thoughts, magic and miracles? Concepts generally!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R57md-4uigc

Emmy award winning journalist pleads guilty of transportation and possession of child sex abuse material. This is bad...really bad...

That's horrible, @Curt. I couldn't finish watching it.

To answer your question, John, the audience determines what will be a hit. They choose this one. Why? Reasons could be anything, or a combination of a few.

Maurice Vaughan, I took a look at the video, the presenter basically quickly skipped the most disturbing parts, as he himself couldn't stand it. Understandably however of the intensities involved. Detectives, Investigators, Police officers, etc, who are uninformed, will be certainly outraged, on proper queries

Curt Samlaska, saw three of the videos you posted, they are truly exposing of a very disturbing situation.

$100M, but it plays to largely empty theaters—sounds like Religious Right Astroturfing to me.

It's not even getting the public controversy Jim Caviezel's other religious hit THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST got, which spurred interest in it. It also isn't directed by Mel Gibson, who whatever you say about him as a person is a talented director....

I found it very boring. I'm beginning to think that's the reason the film was shelved for so long. What a shame that it's such an unengaging film for such an important topic.

I agree, it could have been Hollywooded up a little bit. Explosions, stunts etc, but I think that's what makes it so real and Mel Gibson did make a plea. I actually saw his plea on Instagram.

https://youtu.be/MPicaUvHbn4

Crossing 100 comments!

Hope everyone realize this topic is gonna go on, for some time, regardless of criticism or compliments!

Another objective article that looks at all angles. Of note: Angel studios states that 12.2 million tickets (at $15 each) have been “donated” through the pay it forward program to the tune of $180 million. https://www.slashfilm.com/1350823/sound-of-freedom-surprise-hit-leaves-m...

My dearest Laurie. This article is completely wrong, and makes no sense. Let's take a look at this 12.2 million tickets "donated." First off, if you go to their website Angle.com you will see a real time ticket sales list, which actually tells you a lot, even where the tickets are being purchased in real time. If you watch you will see occasionally a ticket marked "Pay it Forward." Right now the site shows over 13 million tickets have been sold that have been documented on the website. These are, a great majority, just straight ticket sales.

Now, let's take an analytical approach. If there were "12.2 million tickets donated" at let's say an average ticket price of $10.00, that would mean 120 million dollars were "donated" tickets. I paid $9.00 for my ticket when I went, so I don't know where they are getting this $15.00 average. If you do the numbers based on $15.00 a ticket price they quote in the article, that is 180 million dollars donated, as you mentioned. The box office ticket sales aren't anywhere near this. The movie is currently at a box office total of 136 million dollars. If you use my numbers that would mean only 16 million are actual ticket sales. You can't even use the 180 million dollar figure because...the box office isn't anywhere near that. How do you explain this?

This is absolutely fraudulent journalism and tells you that there are a lot of journalists out there with an agenda. People are lazy and don't analyze what they are being fed. This is scary for me because I see it in the medical students, residents and PAs that I teach in my clinic. They are not taught to critically analyze the literature...much less a news article. There is a lot of bad medicine being published, just look at what they cranked out over COVID. Sorry, but this is a real pet peeve of mine...

My dearest Curt - Just because you don't understand something does not mean it is wrong.

The article is non-biased and very thoroughly looks at all angles and references all sources. Exactly what a journalist should do. There is no agenda here. You seem to want to make everything that doesn't align with your view an "agenda."

As per your cherry picked concern it addresses it very clearly and honestly.

"What remains unclear is what percentage of the total box office has been covered by Pay it Forward tickets. Angel has not been transparent about those numbers. A spokesperson for Angel Studios told us, "We are confident that the Pay it Forward for tickets will be completely used for tickets throughout the world by the end of the theatrical release." If that is indeed true, there are tens of millions of dollars worth of tickets that still need to be claimed. "

Cherry picking is my pet peeve.

I agree with Curt, definitely slanted or fraudulent journalism. I think more ifilms will start doing this, as it gets people seeing their films.

Why Faith-Based 'Sound of Freedom' Is Booming at the Box Office - IndieWire https://www.indiewire.com/news/business/sound-of-freedom-box-office-analysis-crowdfunding-pay-it-forward-1234881363/

The confusion arises when you say 12.2 million are through the Pay it Forward system on the Angle website gives one the impression that all the ticket purchases are pay it forward. Why would they even label it as this? It is simply a ticket purchase system. They do show the pay it forward purchases...but that is a small portion of the actual ticket sales. I have seen them go through on the site.

So, what difference does it make about these purchases? Do they have an obligation to report them and how many are actually claimed? Sounds like a brilliant marketing strategy, yes? The theater was full when I went.

I should add that the average ticket price in America is $10.45 and their minimum ask for pay it forward is $15 -- which accounts for the overages and the statement from Angel's website that is quoted in my reply.

As for future films doing this it's not so cut and dry. The podcast I linked last week looks at this possibility. Here is it again.: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5D6bxlUmuKgwDQDPAiht1x?si=x3q63PYNRiWBb...

Much like the podcast, I am looking at / following this strictly from a box office perspective (as the OP was about). People can, and should believe in what ever they want to -- that is the beauty of freedom of choice. I have a slate of films that are issue-based narratives (not documentaries) where proceeds actually go to the issue not to drive up box office and line the studio pockets for more films; however, there is a marketing lesson here about driving box office for awareness, which is why I am following it and analyzing it.

Thank you Laurie for your expertise. The article does mention that Angel reports over 12.2 million tickets sold and that the Pay it Forward tickets are $15.00 each, and are sold as such. Where the article I believe goes wrong is when they document that at $15.00 a ticket, resulting in that 180 million dollar figure, they note that this doesn't measure up to the box office sales. So they are saying that all of the tickets shown on Angel's website are Pay it Forward purchases based on that calculation.

The error that they made was even doing the calculation, because it is meaningless. I believe the Angel website is simply reporting all ticket sales that are going on, including the Pay it Forward tickets. If you watch the purchases go through they must have some agreement with the theaters, fandango and other ticket sales websites to show their data, because these are actual ticket sales as they occur. The question about how many tickets are generated by the Pay if Forward system remains, as you noted, and it is intriguing to speculate on how they are going to handle those funds. Fascinating to watch...

The writer's analogy to a father buying his daughter's Girl Scout cookies is accurate, but another way to think about is, imagine an author buying their entire first run of books; regardless of whether they turned around and donated them to libraries or kept them in their garage, it would generate demand for another printing which would also move them up the list of the NYT best-sellers. Some call it brilliant, some call it deceptive.

There is a stupid obsession with lists and box office numbers, gone are the days where a film could remain in the theater for months on end to be seen again or be an impulse buy while out on evening stroll, sadly it has long been a necessary evil to cross $100 million to be considered "worthy" that number has gone up considerably with a marketplace where it is difficult to break through the noise, especially in middle America. It's the business aspect of show business that completely devalues the stories being told.

I would also like to say that if the Pay it Forward system is collecting $15.00 a ticket, and then they are purchasing tickets for people at let's say the average of $10.45 a ticket Laurie mentioned...that means Angel Studios is pocketing $4.55 on each of those tickets. Wow... This film is a gold mine for Angel Studios...

Sound of Freedom passes 178 million mark and is about to be released worldwide. Here is an interesting video discussing the revenue. They state that around 10% of the tickets were "pay it forward" tickets. He also reviews how the funding through Angel Studios was just for marketing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBHtD6tqrKo

Well, well, well,. Interesting development! Where does this go from here, is the question!

Well, I must say I got an education from this discussion! I appreciate the discussion.

Sound Of freedom, advertised back home here and scheduled to be opened, 06/09/23.

Curt Samlaska Don't you love that this film is generating this discussion? I'd love to create the same kind of things. It seems that every great film generates controversy, discussion, exploration.

I do! I’m excited because my feature JBR has a similar vibe although in a more positive way. It’s a very spiritual feature. Just flew down to San Diego for another horse show so I will be out of the loop for a few days…

Robin, isn't this every screenwriter's dream? It is mine, I humbly admit.

Netflix and Amazon banned Sound of Freedom from their platforms...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Bire71tfc

Just needed to confirm. Saw "Sound of Freedom" today, the opening day back here at home. The undercover work was certainly highlighted in the film and subject matters to pay attention to, in these circumstances. Best to all, who took part in this discussion!

Been trying to tell you guys how big this market is for years. It's also a bit of a whirlpool if you are in certain circles of low-budget film. That's all I'm saying on the matter LOL.

Marian Betts , yeah, I agree with you... every writer's dream! But then, this particular controversy begs the question... can a film be famous for being famous? Isn't that kind of finagling one of the reasons so many networks are floundering? Sort of a cryptocurrency approach, isn't it?

CJ Walley I remember you pointing this out somewhere when I was just dipping my toes in all this. It made sense to me, and I have kept it firmly in mind since.

If, indeed, this film was rejected by Netflix and Amazon, then I reject both these platforms. The film is not lascivious; although it deals with sex trafficking it does not pander to pedophiles. What Netflix & Amazon are doing is called censorship. I am an adult. If I want to see a film, it's my business, not theirs. It doesn't matter who paid for the tickets, forward or backward, or handing them out for free --- the film makers got paid & made a profit from their efforts. Hooray! for them. Most of what Hollywood turns out is woke garbage. So, guess what --- I don't pay to see it. From the losses Hollywood (and media giants like Disney) are experiencing, it would seem there are many people in agreement with me. But, even if not, it's my money and I'll give to whatever entertainment venue I choose. If Angel makes $$$, as a free marketeer, I rejoice. The cure for crap is less censorship, not more.

Robin Gregory This film definitely benefitted from appealing to and being promoted by various MAGA, Evangelical and QAnon adjacent networks.

I got several videos in my FB feed that promoted this film indirectly and with language that clearly alluded to popular conspiracy theories about Hollywood and liberal elites trafficking kids etc. At the same time, the promotion was extremely careful about not aligning explicitly with anything that overtly smelled of QAnon, anti-Semitism and the like. But to people already steeped in conspiracy, the references would be obvious.

So who here can wait 6-7 years for a distribution paycheck? The director & co-writer of the movie said he made 0 distribution profit. Sounds more of a nightmare situation- a finished movie sits for 6-7 years and when it grosses $100M+, the co-creators make 0.

Robin Gregory, fodder for munching on!

M LaVoie Very true. It is not "lizard people" in the basement of a pizza parlor.

Sound of Freedom has passed the $190 million dollar mark and it has just opened internationally...$7.5 million internationally as of today... That's a lot of pizza...

190 plus million...I think it has proved itself regardless of speculation. It will easily hit 200 million with a 14.million budget

I think we can all learn from this.

"Jim Caviezel" !You see, what is the catch, is that he took on the role of challenging, what is known as "The ultimate evil", in "Passion of the Christ". In "Sound of Freedom", he is portraying the same concept of again, challenging "The ultimate evil". There's already so much debate on "The Christ figure", to which Jim Caviezel',s role, very much challenged "Deep Thoughts". It was just simply obvious his present role, "Will ultimately"....Do the same!!!

Excellent point, Dan MaxXx! It's the people who came up with this "Let's sell it to the Religious Right audience!" marketing scheme who probably are raking in all the cash....

Eon C. Rambally—the time I liked Jim Caviezel best was as John Reese in PERSON OF INTEREST, where Jonathan Nolan (Christopher Nolan's kid brother) made his Catholic Guilt persona and bone-dry sense of humor work extraordinarily well. Most other people I've seen can't seem to play off those traits....

M LaVoie—absolutely! That's because who's going to pay good money to watch Liam Neeson torture his next-door neighbor...?

Anthony Murphy Hi John, my Producer on 'Seeing Rachel' was really excited about the success of 'Sound of Freedom', because we now have a similar theme comparable for investors, whereas in the past we didn't and most films on this subject matter - like The Whistleblower - were box office flops!

Geoff Hall That's wonderful, Geoff. Politics aside, "Sound of freedom" has caused a rethinking of the movie making paradigm, especially the marketing.

Anthony Murphy yes, John. I’m hoping my Producer is taking notes on that! And thank you.

Anthony Murphy who is saying SOF is rethinking the movie making paradigm? (Not sure what that sentence means?)

Did you forget the movie was finished and sat on the shelf for 6-7 years?

Dan MaxXx I understand the movie sat on the shelf for years, but I was referring to the unique way it was marketed.

Timothy Liebe , thanks for the reminder of Jonathan Nolan's persona,. Certainly, not the average subject! Person of Interest, did clarify my expectations. When I saw the Passion, I asked myself then, would he do well (audiences attention) in representing justice, as in holding a firearm. I believe of both the Passion and PoI, did set the pace for SOF. Understanding mindsets of audiences, did have it's results.

Yea, it's not controversial. Also, audiences are tired of far-left agendas ruining media. Not adhering to "the rules" doesn't make you a right wing nut job. It probably just means you're normal lol.

Rules like don't foment sedition, don't sexually abuse women, don't steal top secret documents and don't form a gang to steal votes. Those who believe not adhering to these 'Rules' normalize criminal behavior. Has there been a poll illustrating audience weariness. LOL

It is a controversial film through the embrace of right wing nut jobs in much the same way Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North Of Richmond" has been adopted as a rallying cry. Joke's on them. Anthony takes both sides of the aisle in Washington to task.

Philo Kvetch Yes, and endorsing QAnon theories (Caviezel) qualifies someone as 'nutjob' in my book.

210 Million now...it's number one in box office in all of Central America and Brazil. Why does everything have to be politicized? Oliver Anthony has over 64 million views on his video Rich Men North of Richmond... His song resonates with hard working people all over the world. There is a reason this song has exploded in popularity. Please temper your hate...

The bigger question is how much of that money is actually going towards victims of the issue that the film highlights? ZERO.

Why are abortion, guns and immigration politicized. Unless living clueless in a cave deep in the Earth it is the zeitgeist.

The favorite trick of right wing nutjobs is attempts at making those who call foul through recognition of overwhelming documentary proof wrong or defective in some way. Then pressing a heavy boot of suppression to demand silence.

Philo Kvetch bro go outside and stop living on the internet lol

Thanks ever so much for proving the point.

I thought it was a good film, whether true, false, who knows, not me, but are not most films fiction, and then ones that are true are only based on a true story.

Philo Kvetch It's all good man I'll enjoy my life with my friends and family while you keep crying and complaining online

Few believe it's all good, man. LOL

Some prefer to inhabit the dark. Eventually they stumble, trip and break their neck. It's a downright shame. LOL Others prefer to live in the light of truth.

I don't think the trafficked girls and young women who are being raped, drugged, imprisoned, and violently assaulted or killed IN THIS VERY SECOND give a flying F about anything anyone has said in this string. Anyone disagree??? Maybe just see if there's some way you (including me) can help find and bring these poor girls home. Just a thought~ For F's sake!

Here's a good start... https://ourrescue.org/

I have not seen the film yet - and I plan to - but the film itself, and its success, has helped to generate conversations like this. The young women being exploited and trafficked in this world are among the most marginalized people in society and anything that shines a light on this societal disease - whether you agree with politics or religions or whatever - is a good thing. A few years ago, my brother produced a documentary called I AM JANE DOE that helped bring down Backpage and whatever anyone thinks of the film, or doesn't, that is an amazing thing that a piece of art helped make happen.

Donnalyn Vojta, no they don't, do they? I think this discussion is less about the issue itself than the marketing campaign that turned a movie on the shelf for six years into a Christian Right hit...and how we can stop it before it spreads!

Laurie Ashbourne—don't be ridiculous! Have you ever tried to pry money OUT of a Christianist's hands? What Jesus actually said was "It is easier for a Camel to thread the eye of a needle than anybody to get money out of a Right Wing Christian! Unless you're a televangelist or Donald Trump, that is...."

Philo Kvetch—those issues are only politicized because the Religious Right WANTS them politicized. Their idea of "religious freedom" is "Let me shove my ideology down your throat...."

Sam Sokolow — the problem is it's using an extreme case which greases the racist prejudices of the Religious Right Christian Nationalist target audience, rather than pointing out the human trafficking that's happening right at home, and usually by the very people who put out this movie!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/08/07/sound-of-...

For everyone who's attacking someone on this post, you're welcome to comment, but you're not welcome to attack another member. Inappropriate comments (attacks) aren't tolerated. If the attacks continue, you'll be reported to Stage 32, and Stage 32 will remove you from the community. Let's have discussions and learn from each other, not attack each other.

Timothy Liebe: The religious right Christian nationalists are a niche market that looks like it's a lucrative market as well. As difficult as it is for writers/producers/directors, etc. to make $$ off their creative efforts, I give a big hurrah! to those who can make a buck. I feel the same way about "action" kung-fu movies, Disney, Marvel/DC, slasher, rom-coms, chick-flicks, or blatantly far left communist loony movie niches. I've never seen Star Wars, walked out on Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings, and wouldn't watch Hunger Games if somebody paid me to do so. But I don't begrudge people who like that stuff their entertainment and think it's great whenever people make $$$. I learned that, if you want to be an American success, find a need and fill it, or build a better mouse trap. Advice like that is cliched, but for a reason. It works.

Alcoholics and drug addicts can recover. A sex addict, too. Even a foul mouth can be tempered. Moderation in vices is no sin.

The most dangerous vice is practiced by those amongst us - some in powerful positions - whose hypocritical cheeks blush scarlet at the mention of drink, drugs, sex, and the speaking of frank language. They will always be rigid and expect the world to bend around their (usually) bible-thumping viewpoint. It is they who will destroy the world if left unchallenged.

Maurice Vaughan is 100% right. Everyone is allowed to have their opinion and everyone here on Stage 32 is expected to be respectful both when voicing those opinions and receiving them. We're not here to belittle or argue each other's beliefs or opinions, we're here to network and grow as creative professionals. So let's bring it back in and move forward in a positive and professional manner. If you don't feel that you can do that, then please shift over to another conversation.

Thank you, Maurice and Ashley, and all others who refrained from insults. I hope I didn't insult anyone with my comment above. I just couldn't believe all the "thoughts" shared, but only one or two posts actually mentioned the elephant in the room. Heartbreaking to me, that's all.

You're welcome, @Donnalyn Vojta. It is heartbreaking. I hope the girls in human trafficking are brought home. And I agree, we should see if there's some way we can help find and bring them home. I'm gonna look into it.

This is one reason I HATE this movie and what it stands for—putting the blame for human trafficking on some scary Other rather than the people you know:

https://www.thewrap.com/tim-ballard-sound-of-freedom-operation-undergrou...

Timothy Liebe I can see your disgust by the guy's behavior (assuming it's true), but let's not lose sight of the fact that all the others involved likely truly wanted to help stop human trafficking. I hope you won't ignore the big picture and think of the poor, exploited, violently abused children. We are the adults in this society. WE MUST TAKE CARE of the CHILDREN.

SOF is a narrative film with an issue at its premise that should be commended for its marketing prowess. It is not a documentary, it contributes nothing of the profits to the issue at its premise. Here is a link to 8 trustworthy human trafficking nonprofits, https://theexodusroad.com/trustworthy-human-trafficking-nonprofits/

Go to the non-profits and Talk to your legislator if you're in California, the number one sex trafficking state and that refused to sign the sex trafficking bill.

Laurie Ashbourne Awesome! Thanks!! I am going to check those out.

Laurie Ashbourne—thank you for this. Checking them out now....

In light of new developments, this to note ! I'll importantly, recall my 13th comment for reflect and thoughts.... "The undercover work was certainly highlighted in the film and subject matters to pay attention to, in these circumstances" ...I saw some transparency, about "actual events" and also awareness, of age factors of audiences (PG 13) Subject matters to pay attention to with "true events" on recollection to pertinent subjects and discussions in filmmaking, regardless at what level anyone is at.

Laurie Ashbourne , I did take a look at the data. Very interesting!

Great resource, Laurie Ashbourne, and great suggestions, Ryker Baloun.

Here are 20 ways we can help fight human trafficking: www.state.gov/20-ways-you-can-help-fight-human-trafficking/

Maurice Vaughan , thanks for sharing this info. Visited the various websites and subscribed to one so far. Locally there is "The Children's Ark", just google their website, they also have photos, with the cinema packed with viewing patrons, for SOF!

You're welcome, Eon C. Rambally. Glad the resources are helpful. I have some organizations I plan to help out.

Maurice Vaughan , understood!

Given all statistics, I felt compelled! Contacted "Angel Studios" in light of all relevant news occurrences etc., There was a reply and professional reciprocation, lastly where I was understandably asked to fill out a "Collaboration Form", to which did and again, awaiting reply. I must say to the best of explanations, from said reciprocation that they are reasonably, very precautious with general matters. Opinions on this venture taken, will certainly be appreciated!