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Sound of Freedom has overtaken Quentin Tarantino's classic 1994 film, Pulp Fiction, in earnings at the box office.
The Jim Caviezel-led movie has taken in $217 million around the world since opening in July, whereas Tarantino's film earned just shy of $214 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Sound of Freedom follows Tim Ballard (Caviezel) a former Homeland Security officer who begins his own organization to end child trafficking. It has been the surprise success film of 2023 and outperformed major franchises such as Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
As well as outperforming Pulp Fiction, Sound of Freedom has also overtaken that film in the rankings of highest-earning independent movies of all time to sit in 19th place.
Pulp Fiction stars Uma Thurman, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. It tells the story of two mob hitmen, a gangster and his wife, as their lives intertwine, often in violent ways.
The best-earning independent film of all time is Mel Gibson's feature about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, also starring Caviezel, called The Passion of the Christ. It has made a little more than $611 million at the box office since its release in 2004, according to Screen Rant.
However, box-office expert Alexander Ross told Newsweek that, when looking at the earning power of films, it was necessary not to "compare the performance of motion pictures without adjusting the figures for inflation."
"For instance yes, Pulp Fiction (1994) did make $214 million at the box office, but that is $443,343,886 in today's money. Sound of Freedom does not come close to that," the author of The Evolution of Hollywood's Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted said.
Along with a word-of-mouth campaign, aided by social media, one of Sound of Freedom's reasons for success was its "pay it forward" system.
Angel Studios, which distributed the film, came up with a grassroots marketing campaign that encouraged people to buy tickets for others online to spread the message about the movie. Cinemagoers were also urged to help provide tickets for those who could not afford to buy their own.
"The campaign to promote the film has been very innovative and succeeded in making an emotional connection with audiences," Ross said.
"Admittedly, both Caviezel and former Homeland Security Agent Ballard have in the past been associated with right-wing, Q-Anon-inspired conspiracy theories. This suggests that the film appeals to a MAGA-supporting viewership and makes the case to the studios that it is more important to strongly appeal to a specific demographic than to try to moderately appeal to the full spectrum of filmgoers."
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more