This thriller about the fight against child sex trafficking is drawing near to a staggering $175 million at the domestic box office.
There is one - and only one - other faith-based movie that has turned in the kind of ticket sales that Sound of Freedom has. This film, which stars Jim Caviezel and Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino, brought in $4.8 million more over the weekend, its sixth in release, putting it in eighth place overall from Friday through Sunday, according to The Numbers website.
More importantly, it now sits at nearly $173 million total, meaning it is sure to cross the $175 million threshold this week. That is something that only The Passion of the Christ, the 2004 masterpiece from director Mel Gibson, has ever done (that film brought in a gargantuan total of $370 million in domestic revenue). In fact, no other faith-based production has ever cracked $100 million at the box office, which gives a sense of the phenomenal performance Sound of Freedom has turned in.
The success of the picture - which tells the true story of former Department of Homeland Security official Tim Ballard, who stepped down from his government post to devote himself full-time to the fight against the child sex trade - is not just defined by its revenue vis-a-vis other Christian movies. It is even outperforming top-of-the-line secular fare, including major studio franchises like the latest iterations of Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible. In a word, a truly exceptional effort.