'Sound of Freedom' Studio Executive Explains How 'War' Against Film Started

Angel Studios Chief Content Officer Jeffrey Harmon went into detail on a recent podcast about why he felt that Sound of Freedom sparked a social media war.

Sound of Freedom has become the surprise hit film of 2023 and is the 10th-highest-grossing film of the year so far. The independent movie is about former Homeland Security Officer Tim Ballard, played by Jim Caviezel, who left his role to save children from child sex trafficking.

The film, directed by Alejandro Monteverde, quickly brought in more money at the domestic box office than mega franchises Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. There has already been some discussion about a sequel.

However, the film also ignited a debate as critics flooded social media with conspiracy theories about the film. Harmon said the war started with the media.

"Everybody who has seen this film knows it has nothing to do with conspiracy theories," Harmon said during a podcast episode of Viral Jesus with Heather Thompson Day that was released on Thursday. "What's wild is the way that the media has latched on."

Some of the conspiracy theories blamed AMC Theatres for attempting to block people from viewing Sound of Freedom. One woman alleged that she and her daughters were evacuated from an AMC theater more than halfway through the film and were reimbursed without an explanation.

One social media post by an alleged AMC employee claimed that theater staff was instructed to add a liquid to viewers' soda and when examined at a lab, the liquid resembled nanobots.

Harmon explained that the media labeled the film by calling it "faith-based" and "conservative" and then created conspiracy theories about the film to convince people not to watch it. The conspiracy theories began spreading on social media 24 to 48 hours before the movie launched on July 4. At that time, the movie had already sold more than 10 million tickets.

On the first night of showings, Harmon said there were reports of standing ovations, people weeping and people hugging complete strangers at the end of the film.

"This is something you don't see in cinema very much," he said.

Harmon went on to say that the film viewers would then see the conspiracy theories on social media.

"So social media exploded because there was this labeling effort going on against the film and everybody who had seen the film said this is...all made up," Harmon said. "So you end up with just like a war on social media within hours of [the movie launching]."

According to Harmon, media elites were spreading labels "trying to attack the film," and people who had seen the film were defending it. The debacle catapulted the film to the No. 1 trending topic on X, formerly Twitter.

"The movie's success speaks for itself, and audiences from all walks of life and all points of view are embracing the movie," Angel Studios spokesman Matthew Faraci told Newsweek. "During the campaign, we consistently told people we want you to see the movie and judge for yourself."

Despite being marketed by Angel Studios, Harmon said the film didn't have a religious backdrop. Angel Studios has marketed other popular films and television series like The Chosen and His Only Son. The studio bought the film after Disney acquired it but then shelved it, according to Harmon.