Jim Caviezel Knows Why Sound of Freedom Won’t Win Oscar: “They won’t touch this one”
Jim Caviezel starred in Mel Gibson’s faith-based movie The Passion of the Christ close to two decades ago. This year, he’s back into the mix and making waves with the genre that largely gets overlooked by mainstream studios.
Caviezel portrayed Jesus in the 2004 drama that followed the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.
At 54, he’s back with another faith-based movie and in a heroic role but in a completely different context. Sound of Freedom is the story of a federal agent (Caviezel) who rescues a boy from child traffickers and embarks on a mission to save the boy’s sister, who’s still captive. He quits his job in his pursuit which takes place in the Colombian jungle.
Read more: “He fit what we needed”: Controversial Mel Gibson Casting Justified by John Wick Spinoff Producer
Jim Caviezel Wants Oscar for His Movie Sound of Freedom
Jim Caviezel plays former U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom, who’s now an anti-human trafficking activist and author.
Ballard’s journey in the movie is shown to be filled with twists and turns. And in real life, it was the whole movie itself that crossed hairy paths before hitting the theaters. In fact, it was in a state of limbo for five years. The movie, originally set at 20th Century Fox, had been completed in 2018. However, following the acquisition of the studio, not much was heard about Caviezel’s project.
Five years later, the film is being distributed by Angel Studios. Further, the drama is partially crowdfunded and has garnered huge support from religious and conservative media organizations.
The same support is being reflected in its box office collection. Despite being only released in North American cinemas so far, the movie has garnered over $150 million at the box office in just over a month. It was released on July 4.
On the back of the success, the star face of the movie Caviezel believes Sound of Freedom should win an Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, stating: “In a fair world, this would hands down win … but … They won’t touch this one.”
The Passion of the Christ – which was directed by Mel Gibson – managed three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005. As such, it’s tough to see why decision-makers won’t touch Caviezel’s other movie. But as always, Hollywood, like its best scripts, works in ways that we don’t always understand. Regardless, we continue to follow it.
Read more: Mel Gibson’s S*x Trafficking Documentary Controversy – Explained
Sound of Freedom Compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s best-selling book from the 19th century is considered one of the most important written works in shedding light on the injustices of slavery and impacted attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S.
Caviezel has insisted that he hopes the film will be seen as the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of 21st-century slavery, as he believes the movie has the potential and power to be a huge fightback against child trafficking.
The comparison with Stowe’s work is another controversial element added to the growing list of issues surrounding the movie. It won’t be far-fetched to say that any type of limelight is pushing the movie’s collection in the favor of its stakeholders.
Source: Culture Crave
