The curious case of Sound of Freedom hasn’t been without controversy, seeing as the biggest box office breakout sensation of the year has been coming under fire from many different directions ever since it exploded onto the scene and became an instantaneous phenomenon.
If it isn’t the accuracy of the events depicted onscreen being called into question, then it’s the purported far-right leanings and overtly faith-based nature of the production as a whole, not that the latter should be any surprise when that’s precisely what Angel Studios almost exclusively focuses on.
There was also the unsavory coincidence of an investor being arrested and charged with child kidnapping, with the latest twist finding rival studios growing convinced that Sound of Freedom‘s $165 million haul may not be entirely accurate due to the “Pay It Forward” program that ensures tickets are bought and sold whether or not anybody actually turns up to the theater, with studio executive Jared Geesey largely dancing around the question when asked by The Hollywood Reporter.
“The vast majority of tickets are being bought by human, everyday people in a normal purchase flow. We do not break out Pay It Forward tickets versus regular tickets because they’re the same thing. A ticket is a ticket, whether you paid for it or someone else paid for it.”
A major studio even launched its own investigation, with THR noting that it didn’t want to be named, but the results determined that “the online consumer response to Sound of Freedom has been less about the movie itself and more rooted in conspiracy theories and ongoing political/culture wars within the United States and the globe at large,” but the inarguable fact remains that it made a ton of money.