Angel Studios, the distributor of the polarizing crime thriller filmSound of Freedom, which became the most surprising box office hit of 2023 and recent history, recently released its latest film, the spiritual documentaryAfter Death, with much the same unconventional distribution and marketing strategy that Angel Studios successfully applied toSound of Freedom.
After Deathexplores the eternally fascinating subject of the afterlife by presenting the stories of various near-death experience survivors, both through interviews and reenactments. The film also features commentary about these events from various authors, scholars, and scientists, to try to arrive at logical, plausible conclusions about what actually happens to people after they die.
While it’s certainly unrealistic to think thatAfter Death, as a documentary, can even come close to equaling the commercial success of theaction-orientedSound of Freedom, which has presently grossed more than $240 million at the worldwide box office against a production cost of less than $15 million, the box office performance ofAfter Deathwill nonetheless serve as a test case regarding how effectively Angel Studios can marshal the same sizable faith-based audience that flocked toSound of Freedomtoward other films.
No Box Office Mystery
LikeSound of Freedom,After Deathmade its North American theatrical debut in approximately 2,600 theaters, around the same number of theaters thatSound of Freedomhad in its opening weekend of release.
Moreover, Angel Studios reportedly pre-sold over 210,000 tickets prior to the documentary’s theatrical release, for which Angel Studios employed the same “pay it forward” strategy of urging followers to buy tickets for other people that helped fuel the success ofSound of Freedom.
Best Movies with Religious Themes, Ranked
Whatever faith one has, if any, it’s clear that religion can serve as beautiful backdrops for cinema. Here are the best films with religious themes.
In its opening weekend of domestic release,After Death, which has yet to be released overseas, grossed just over $5 million at the domestic box office and finished in fourth place on the domestic box office chart, ahead ofExorcist: BelieverandbehindKillers of the Flower Moon. In comparison,Sound ofFreedomgrossed approximately $14.2 million domestically in its opening weekend of release.
Indeed, while the domestic opening weekend box office performance ofAfter Deathpales in comparison to that ofSound of Freedom, for a documentary film, this nonetheless represents one of the strongest domestic opening weekend performances in recent history.
Moreover, the domestic opening weekend box office performance ofAfter Deathis comparable to that of the last feature film that was distributed by Angel Studios prior to the release ofSound of Freedom, the 2023 biblical drama filmHis Only Son, which grossed approximately $5.5 million in its domestic opening weekend and grossed just over $12 million throughout its entire theatrical run. Unless something dramatically changes forAfter Death, which has presently grossed just over $6.1 million, it appears thatAfter Deathis headed for a similar final box office total.
The Jim Caviezel Factor
While the media gleefully attached various controversies, whether legitimate or not, toSound of Freedom, the most controversial aspect of the film is, of course, the presence ofthe film’s star, Jim Caviezel, whose own political and religious beliefs almost single-handedly gave the action-orientedSound of Freedomthe aura of being a faith-based film.
With Caviezel’s appearance inSound of Freedom, combined with the attachment of faith-based distributor Angel Studios,Sound of Freedombecame a rallying cry for opponents and supporters of the film’s perceived underlying political and religious messaging. As the film divided audiences and critics almost entirely along political and religious lines, virtually all objective discussions of the film’s actual quality became moot.
11 Stimulating Films About the Afterlife
These movies don’t let death get in the way of a good story.
Given the comparably muted box office performance ofAfter Death, along with that of the previous Angel Studios’ release,His Only Son, it now seems obvious that while Caviezel has become a virtual pariah in Hollywood, to faith-based audiences, Caviezel represents a potent symbol for the validation of their beliefs. Within this context, it can be argued that Caviezel is one of the biggest box office draws in North America, if not the world, if only within thefaith-based film genre.
As a documentary, without the presence of Caviezel,After Deathhas clearly failed to attract the same sizable audience that Caviezel drew toSound of Freedomand is instead performing entirely consistently with previous faith-based films while outperforming most other documentary films that have been released theatrically over the past decade.
A Media Blackout
Perhaps sensing that its seemingly deliberately antagonistic coverage ofSound of Freedomlikely contributed to, rather than detracted from, the film’s box office success by compelling politically and religiously inclined audiences to see the film, largely as a protest against said media coverage, the mainstream news media has taken an entirely different approach with its coverage ofAfter Death.
Most media outlets have completely ignoredthe documentary film, which has only been reviewed by a handful of critics from prominent media outlets. Unsurprisingly, given the largely negative media coverage that accompanied the release ofSound of Freedom, most of the critical reaction toAfter Death, negative and positive, has fallen along political and religious lines.
Moreover, as was the case withSound of Freedom, while the overall critical reaction toAfter Deathhas been largely negative, audiences love the film, based on the film’s presently high audience score.
Ultimately, sinceAfter Deathis a documentary, not a feature film, the true measure of both the actual commercial power of faith-based audiences and the residual commercial effect from the success ofSound of Freedomwill be determined upon the eventual release of Jim Caviezel’s next film, especially if his next film is aSound of Freedomsequel.
After Deathis currently in theaters, whileSound of Freedomcan be bought on Amazon.
