Did Disney Secretly Own the Film: Jim Caviezel portrays Tim Ballard in the enthralling new thriller film Sound of Freedom, which is based on his extraordinary life. Tim Ballard is a federal agent who founded the non-profit organisation Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), whose mission is to rescue minors from s*x trafficking.
The film has made ripples in the entertainment industry, not only due to its captivating plot, but also because of the controversy surrounding it. Surprisingly, it has achieved extraordinary success at the box office, securing the third position on domestic charts, just behind Indiana Jones 5 and the most recent Insidious film.
Since its July 4 release, Sound of Freedom has prompted debates on social media, particularly concerning its distribution and connection to Disney. If you are interested in learning more about these aspects, we have all the information you need.
Did Disney Secretly Own the Film?
Following Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Sound of Freedom was undoubtedly formerly owned by Disney. Despite the recent publication of the film, development of the script began in 2015. It was filmed three years later, during which a distribution deal with the 20th Century Fox film studio was negotiated.
Nonetheless, after the Disney-Fox merger and Disney’s acquisition of the rights, the media conglomerate decided to abandon the project. Therefore, a purported conflict ensued for the filmmakers to, so to speak, liberate Sound of Freedom.
The film’s producer, Eduardo Verastegui, revealed that despite the film’s conclusion in 2018, no distributor was interested in purchasing it for several years. Netflix and Amazon reportedly declined the opportunity out of concern for potential financial losses.
In the autumn of 2022, however, the situation changed when Verastegui met with Neal Harmon, the CEO of Angel Studios. Neal co-founded the business with his siblings Jeffrey and Jordan.
Although the Harmon family is known to be affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and Angel Studios is responsible for producing “The Chosen,” a television series about the life of Jesus, the studio is not officially affiliated with any particular religion.
Angel Studios, which operates its own streaming service with the same name, utilises equity crowdfunding to fund its projects, allowing investors to purchase shares in the company and its productions.
When the studio presented Sound of Freedom to its investors, the investors were enthusiastic. As a consequence, Angel Studios agreed to distribute the film in March of this year.
Jordan Harmon, speaking on behalf of Angel Studios, disclosed that approximately 7,200 individuals contributed $5 million in less than ten days to ensure the film’s worldwide release.
Sound of Freedom has performed exceedingly well at the box office, suggesting that these investors are poised to realise the benefits of their investment.
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Why did Disney decide to cancel the release of Sound of Freedom?
Disney has not stated publicly why it cancelled Sound of Freedom, but the topic is heavily discussed online. Some individuals believe it may have something to do with the film’s controversy.
As we explained in our article on the subject, the legitimacy of OUR’s rescue missions has been questioned. An investigation conducted by Vice World News for the publication 2020 revealed a disparity between the group’s actual practises and some of its purported successes.
The Attorney’s Office of Davis County, Utah, announced at the time that criminal investigations were being conducted on OUR and Tim Ballard in response to allegations that the organisation had engaged in unlawful fundraising tactics. However, the investigation was discontinued this year.
But the fact that Sound of Freedom has been linked to QAnon has caused the most concern among many individuals. Both Ballard and Jim Caviezel, who portrays him, have supported the movement’s conspiracy theories.
The movement believes, for example, that Satanic elitists are operating a child s*x trafficking organisation and plotted against Donald Trump while he was president.
On the other hand, those who support Ballard, OUR, and Sound of Freedom assert that Disney and the media rejected the distribution agreement to prevent the truth from reaching the American public.
Another person who posted a picture of Ghislaine Maxwell at Disney stated, “After acquiring Fox Studios, Disney owned the rights to the recently released anti-child s*x trafficking film The Sound of Freedom.”