The numbers are in for July's summer blockbuster movies, but how does the surprise hit Sound of Freedom compare with the newly released Barbie and Oppenheimer?
Moviegoers have been anticipating the release of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer for months now, and both have performed spectacularly at the box office. However, the beginning of July brought glowing headlines for Sound of Freedom which surprised industry forecasters with an outstanding result at the box office.
Sound of Freedom, released on July 4, 2023, has made the news recently for multiple viral videos and stories from viewers who say they were forced out of screenings for a number of reasons. AMC Theatres has faced backlash despite the CEO Adam Aron saying no one is "suppressing" people from seeing the film, while the producers of Sound of Freedom told Newsweek they're thankful for AMC's support.
On a couple of days in July, Sound of Freedom shocked many by outperforming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the box office.
As of July 23, Sound of Freedom has made a total gross of $124,748,584. It has only received a domestic release, so all of that money has come from North America alone.
Barbie and Oppenheimer, which both released internationally on July 21, have already outperformed Sound of Freedom.
Oppenheimer has taken in a domestic opening weekend gross of $80,500,000, but a worldwide intake of $174,157,000. Barbie has earned even more with $155 million domestically, and a worldwide figure of $337 million. All figures are according to Box Office Mojo, by IMDb, on July 23, 2023.
While it appears as if Barbie and Oppenheimer have already smashed Sound of Freedom's box office achievements in their opening weekend alone, the starting points for each should be taken into consideration.
Sound of Freedom had a budget of $14.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. With its current Box Office figures, Sound of Freedom has already made more than ten times its budget back.
To achieve the same measurement of success, Oppenheimer with a $100 million budget, would have to take in over $1 billion at the box office, while Barbie with a reported budget between $128-$145 million, would have to earn over $1.28-$1.45 billion.
Both targets are attainable for the movies, but it would be the highest grossing movie in the careers of both Nolan and Gerwig.
While Sound of Freedom's numbers are down, and will remain far lower than Barbie and Oppenheimer, the movie's release has still been considered a success for its domestic box office alone.
The movie is based on the real life of former Homeland Security special agent Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel). The plotline follows Ballard as he sets up Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), an anti-child-trafficking organization.
Former President Donald Trump recently voiced his approval for the film after he hosted a screening at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He called the movie "unbelievable," adding, "It's something that I'm not sure if you're supposed to enjoy or learn, it's a combination, but that was a great movie. Now I understand why it's doing so well.
"It's setting records by the way, it's eating the biggest movies out there, they have some of the big summer blockbusters and this is knocking the socks off of them. So that's pretty good."
