Disney’s Lucasfilm released its latest soulless cash grab over the 4th of July weekend, attempting to reawaken the Indiana Jones franchise by de-aging Harrison Ford but then slapping one of its trademark bait-and-switch, feminism-infected storylines on the top. The “Member Berries” didn’t bring in the viewers, however, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is mid-flop at the box office, to no one’s surprise. Audiences are tired of Disney serving up pure slop.
What is surprising, however, was the fact that an indie movie took the holiday weekend’s top spot, and it’s one that the corporate media and studios like Disney would rather you not see.
Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom brought in more money at the box office than Indian Jones did on July 4th despite it being in fewer theaters:
Angel Studios distributed Sound of Freedom was the top film at the box office on July 4, the day that the film released. It grossed $14.2 million while in 2,634 theaters. The film grossed an average of $5,407 per theater.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came in second with a daily gross of $11.6 million while being in 4,600 theaters. The film only grossed $2,543 per theater.
Rounding out the top five were Elemental, which grossed $2.7 million, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed $2.6 million and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts grossed $1.6 million.
Sound of Freedom stars Passion of the Christ actor Jim Caviezel as Tim Ballard, CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. Based on a true story, the film centers on Ballard’s efforts to save the younger sister of a boy he rescued from child traffickers while working as a Special Agent for the Department of Homeland Security.
The film is really kicking Disney in the pants, but that’s hardly the real kicker.
Sound of Freedom was originally going to be distributed by Fox, but when the Fox/Disney merger happened, the House of Mouse shelved the film. According to Bounding, Angel Studios President Jordan Harmon had to fight to win the rights to the film from Disney:
After briefly pitching viewers to invest in the P&A for the film, Harmon returned to the story about how the film was shelved by The Walt Disney Company, “Going back to that story, Fox was originally going to distribute it. Then Disney buys Fox and for whatever reason Disney shelves it.”
“And it took you, and your team, and Eduardo a year to basically get the rights back,” he explained.
Harmon would later clarify his comments in an email communication with Bounding Into Comics saying, “To clarify my earlier comment, Disney didn’t distribute Sound of Freedom for reasons unknown to us. We are grateful to be the distributor for this important film.”
So let’s recap. Disney shelves a film about a harrowing rescue of children from sex trafficking for a reason that still hasn’t been revealed. What it does release is another boring reboot of a franchise that should have been left well alone. The film Disney didn’t want to release ended up kicking the crap out of its half-baked nostalgia trip on July 4.
Delicious.
We can speculate all day as to why Disney didn’t want to do anything with Sound of Freedom till the Lizzos come home, but what we can deduce is two things.
For one, Disney has completely lost touch with its audience. It’s not serving up what it wants, only what it thinks will make it the most money. It’s gone all-in on nostalgia and social justice politics, giving it neither an audience nor money.
Second, people are done with Disney’s lazy cash grabs and destruction of legacy IPs. They would rather line up to watch something with substance, made by people who actually care about the product. It’s how an independent studio can be the David to Disney’s Goliath.
