Sound Of Freedom Finds Streaming Home, Release Date Confirmed After Heated Bidding War
After becoming a surprise box office hit over the summer, Sound of Freedom has finally found a streaming home. Led by Jim Caviezel, the faith-based thriller is inspired by the story of Tim Ballard, a former U.S. government agent who sought to shut down a number of international child trafficking operations, leading to the creation of the anti-sex trafficking organization, Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.). Despite mixed reviews from critics, the movie was a massive success with audiences, becoming one of the most successful independent movies in history at the box office with nearly $243 million grossed against its $14.5 million budget.
Nearly four months after the movie first hit theaters, Variety has revealed that Sound of Freedom has found its streaming home. Prime Video has acquired the rights to the Caviezel-starring thriller, setting it for a December 26 release date on the platform. At the time of writing, it’s unknown how much the Amazon platform paid to acquire the rights to the movie, with it having been the center of a heated bidding war for its streaming rights.
Just a month after the movie came out, reports swirled that three unnamed streaming platforms were in a bidding war for the rights to Sound of Freedom, with estimates putting the value as high as an eight-figure sum. Considering the movie’s success at the box office, it makes sense that there would be such a clamor to acquire the thriller in the hopes of drawing the same audiences, who have given it a near-perfect 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, to their platforms and boost their subscription numbers.
This heated competition is made even further interesting when looking at the movie’s struggles to release in the first place, with Disney shelving the project after acquiring 20th Century Fox, whose Latin American subsidiary had made a distribution deal for the movie. The creative team behind the thriller did successfully reacquire the rights to the project, but even when partnering with Angel Studios for its eventual release, the studio still turned to equity crowdfunding in order to distribute and market it. These efforts still paid off in their favor as the movie went on to enjoy a mammoth box office haul and set multiple records.
One of the other major elements making Sound of Freedom’s streaming release a big deal is the various controversies surrounding the movie. In addition to questions of its factual accuracy and potential QAnon conspiracy theory promotions, Ballard himself was the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation in early 2023, resulting in his resignation from O.U.R., though details of the outcome of the investigation have not been released to the public. While Prime Video is sure to bring in plenty of eyes to their streaming library by acquiring the rights to the movie, it will be interesting to see how those who have spoken against Sound of Freedom will react in turn to this deal.