The film itself is extremely loosely based on the work of Tim Ballard, a high-profile anti-trafficking organization founder who has made dubious claims of his own. In 2021, Caviezel pushed aspects of the QAnon conspiracy theory at a rightwing convention alongside L Lin Wood, a prominent QAnon believer and lawyer who worked to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It has helped that the film’s star, Jim Caviezel, appears to be one of those QAnon believers.Ĭaviezel, who is best known for playing Jesus Christ in the Mel Gibson-directed The Passion of the Christ, has repeatedly claimed that children’s blood is being harvested for the hormone “adrenochrome”, which is then used by unnamed persons in an anti-ageing effort.
Much of the interest appears to be driven by the right wing, including adherents of QAnon – the conspiracy theory which alleges a cabal of Democrats, Hollywood celebrities and financiers control the world, while engaging in a mass pedophilia ring. On Thursday, it became the 16th highest grossing North American movie of the year. Whether people are watching or not, Sound of Freedom is soaring in financial terms. The Daily Dot has also reported on suspicious sales of Sound of Freedom tickets in a theater in Vancouver, while others have shared videos on social media showing swathes of empty seats in supposedly sold-out theaters. Again, there were more than two vacant spots as the film began. Minutes before the 6.30pm screening, Fandango showed that only two seats were still available. As the lights dimmed, however, the Guardian counted 45 vacant seats dotted around the half-empty theater. In a theater located in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday afternoon, there seemed to be evidence of this.Īccording to Fandango, all but 28 seats had been sold for the 3pm screening of Sound of Freedom. But there are growing suggestions that a lot of those extra tickets aren’t actually being used: that the sales figures might be over-inflating Sound of Freedom’s significance.
On 4 July, the day of the film’s release, nearly 20% of its sales came from people who bought those extra tickets, IndieWire reported. There’s a message at the end of the film and a prominent link on the studio’s website urging viewers to buy an extra ticket “for someone who would not otherwise be able to see the film”.
But as the movie continues to cause controversy – with its star touring conservative media to peddle conspiracy theories about unnamed persons harvesting chemicals from children’s blood and anti-trafficking experts criticizing the film’s entire premise – questions are also being asked about who is actually watching it and whether that many people are watching it at all.Īngel Studios, the film’s distributor, set up a controversial “pay it forward” scheme for Sound of Freedom.
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