Angel Studios, the studio behind last year's surprise independent hit Sound of Freedom, is teaming with the Daily Wire for its next release, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.
Sound of Hope is inspired by the real-life story of the Rev. WC Martin and his wife, Donna. Through their Bennett Chapel in Possum Trot, Texas, the pair arranged for the adoption of more than 75 children who had been difficult to place in the foster-care system.
Given that Sound of Freedom was also based on a true story about rescuing children, Sound of Hope marks the second in an "anthology of saving kids," said Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon, though he declined to say if there are more "Sound of" films in the pipeline.
The collaboration will mark the first time Daily Wire will co-release a movie into theaters. Previously, it released on its Daily Wire+ streaming platform the documentary, What is a Woman and the comedy film, Lady Ballers, about a men's basketball team whose members pretend to be transgender athletes so they may compete against women.
The partnership between Angel Studios and Daily Wire also represents the first time that the two competitors—each have large followings among the faithful and conservatives —have joined forces.
"We don't stand a chance against Hollywood's broken system and broken priorities if we view this as a zero-sum game," said Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing, a frequent critic of an alleged left-wing bias in mainstream Hollywood.
"Daily Wire and Angel Studios are still only two studios to represent entertainment for over half the country. There's a lot of space and we need more," Boreing told Newsweek. "We are more powerful together."
Sound of Hope was made by Joshua and Rebekah Weigel for Peacetree Productions. Letitia Wright, the actress famous for her role in the Marvel superhero movie, Black Panther, came aboard as an executive producer about a year ago.
Like its predecessor, Sound of Hope is inspired by truth, though the plot has nothing to do with Sound of Freedom, which was based on the life of Tim Ballard, a former special agent with Homeland Security who set up Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) to combat child sex trafficking.
Actor Jim Caviezel, who played Ballard, is "not yet" involved with Sound of Hope, said Harmon.
"As the father of an adopted daughter myself, Sound of Hope is truly inspirational," said Boreing, who co-founded the Daily Wire with conservative podcaster and radio host Ben Shapiro.
The adoption stories of the Martins and their Possum Trot church have previously been explored on TV by way of 48 Hours, Good Morning America and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Sound of Hope has screened to hundreds of nonprofit organizations focused on foster care and adoption. A red-carpet event that will celebrate foster families is set for Tuesday at a theater in Hollywood. On Wednesday, comic Adam Carolla, who is the star and creator of an animated Daily Wire show called Mr. Birchum, will host a screening followed by a Q&A with filmmakers that will become a podcast episode for him.
A limited "fan release" for certain theaters for one day also launches Wednesday in celebration of Juneteenth. Sound of Hope goes wide in theaters on July 4, just as Sound of Freedom did last year.
Neither Harmon nor Boreing would reveal plans for streaming the film.
Newsweek was afforded an advance screening of Sound of Hope, where the Rev. Martin, played by Demetrius Grosse, is portrayed as a charismatic preacher of the gospel with a decidedly rhythmic approach to his sermons.
When his wife, played by Nika King, first floats the idea of adoption, her husband balks, but he's soon on board in dramatic fashion.
Among their adoptees is 12-year old Terri, played by Diaana Babnicova. The social worker in charge of placing children informs them that Terri's biological mother "may have pimped her out" while the mom's boyfriend raped and tortured her.
Terri's coping mechanism is that she pretends to be a cat, says Susan Ramsey, the government social worker who is played by Elizabeth Mitchell.
"The state ain't no family," Donna Martin tells Ramsey, who initially objects to allowing the couple to adopt Terri.
After the Rev. Martin convinces others in his congregation to adopt other children, the government worker is again skeptical.
"We got over 20 families that want kids just like Terri and any other child that needs a home, and that's just in our little neck of the woods," the Rev. Martin tells her in a scene that sums up the plot and message of the film.
"You think about that," he tells her. "We got churches on every corner ... there shouldn't be a child without a home. We can turn this whole thing around."
As for Sound of Freedom, it earned an impressive $251 million at the box office last year on a roughly $15 million budget, enough to make it one of the bigger post-pandemic hit movies.
Its success came despite controversy that began when Caviezel appeared on a podcast with Steve Bannon, stoking accusations that the film was related to QAnon conspiracy theories involving devil worshippers and an inflated view of the prevalence of child exploitation.
Later, Ballard left his CEO position at O.U.R., prior to public allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by multiple women. Ballard is accused of telling some of them to shower and share a bed with him to fool traffickers into believing they were married.
Also, one of Sound of Freedom's producers, Paul Hutchinson, was reportedly accused of touching the breasts of a 16-year-old female victim of trafficking while on a mission in Mexico in 2016 to prevent sexual abuse of children.
Ballard has denied the allegations against him and Hutchinson has said he was under the impression the girl he inappropriately fondled was 18. Newsweek reached out to both through Angel Studios and neither responded.
Angel Studios is also embroiled in a different kind of controversy over The Chosen, given that in March it lost an arbitration valued at hundreds of millions of dollars with The Chosen, Inc. (TCI).
While Angel Studios helped create and crowdfund The Chosen and had been its exclusive distributor, its relationship with TCI fell apart in 2022, leading to limited marketing rights for Angel Studios.
The dispute over The Chosen, which has been viewed by about 200 million people worldwide, caused the release of its fourth season to be delayed. Five episodes are out now on the Chosen App, while another three in the fourth season are complete and will release one-by-one over the next several weeks. The entire Season 4 already had a theatrical release.
After a two-week arbitration to settle their differences, Angel Studios is prevented from using the tagline, "From the studio that brought you The Chosen" while promoting its other content, and it's also prohibited from claiming that donations at its website will help fund future seasons of The Chosen.
Harmon told Newsweek that Angel Studios has appealed the decision of the arbitrators.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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