After becoming an unexpected box-office success in the US and Canada —a cumulative $178 million dollars— the film sound of freedom It could lead to a sequel, if not a huge franchise, even made up of television series. However, there’s apparently a slight catch to tackling more stories surrounding Tim Ballard, the former US Homeland Security agent who sets out to save the lives of hundreds of child trafficking victims. And this is a very unusual rights issue.
According Varietya representative of the Mexican Alejandro Monteverde, director in charge of sound of freedomhas stated that the real Tim Ballard provided the rights for Monteverde to make just a movie about his life. Hence, to lift a continuation, it is necessary to sign a new contract. “Regarding the sequel, there have been discussions, but there is nothing further to report now,” the spokesperson said.
Due to the excellent results of sound of freedom at the domestic box office, it is not ruled out that Ballard agrees to ally (again) with Monteverde and the distributor Angel Studios for a sequel. On the other hand, it is still extremely curious that the study had not secured the corresponding rights to make more than one film.
As a result of such a decision, now those responsible for sound of freedom “They are in a predicament,” in the words of Lisa Callif, a lawyer consulted by VarietyNot anticipating that their feature film would be a colossal success, they freed Ballard to go with another company willing to pay him more to tell his story.
“This is unusual, because if it was a big studio, they would have secured all the rights, and [Ballard] he wouldn’t have had a chance to go off and settle with someone else,” Callif added.
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If a new agreement is not reached with Ballard, the Angels Studios brand could choose to produce a spin-off of sound of freedom, where the protagonist is not the fictional version of the former agent and activist -played by Jim Caviezel- but a completely different character. The problem with this hypothetical alternative, however, is that Ballard’s personal connection to the material “seems essential” to any title stemming from the original tape anyway (via).
Earlier, a spokesman for Mike Ilitch Jr., producer of sound of freedom, commented that his client obtained exclusive rights to bring the true story of Tim Ballard to the screen, and that both personalities were already holding talks about possible future projects. For example, a sequel, a TV show, and a docuseries about Ballard’s various missions to rescue girls and boys who are sexually exploited.
sound of freedom (so titled in Latin America) will arrive in Mexican theaters on August 31, 2023.
Antonio G. Spindola I have very bad memory. Out of solidarity with my memories, I choose to lose myself too. Preferably in a movie theater.