'Sound of Freedom' skyrockets at box office opening day

"Sound of Freedom," a film released earlier this week that brings awareness to human trafficking, got the top spot at the box office in the United States on its opening day, the Fourth of July.

Box Office Mojo shows that the film received the spot for the highest grossing film at $14.24 million, with “Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny” at the second spot and Pixar's “Elemental” in third. That is in spite of the fact that no major studio wanted to produce or distribute the film, and there has been a virtual blackout of coverage of the film by the mainstream media. 

The movie is based on the true story of Tim Ballard, a former Department of Homeland Security agent who quit his job in 2013 to rescue children who were victims of human trafficking.

He has since founded the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad, which works with law enforcement around the world to rescue victims of child trafficking and help them heal and recover. 

Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus Christ in “The Passion of the Christ," plays Ballard in the film.

Caviezel and Ballard said in an interview with The Epoch Times that the film is based on rescues that occurred in real life. 

“I will say, it is a true story, absolutely,” Caviezel said during the interview. “Every character is real. Every bad guy is real.”

“At the end of the film … it showed all the good guys, the bad guys, the kids, and it said where they are today,” Ballard stated. “We know where they are. Those are real kids, every one of them. Some of them work for us. Some of them have actually rescued people from human trafficking as young adults.”

Ballard presented some startling numbers, stating that "$150 billion a year are made off the backs of men, women, and children as slaves,” adding that some 27 million people around the world live in slavery, with 6 million of those being children.

“It’s estimated that 2 million of those [children] are specifically designated for the commercial sex trade,” Ballard continued. “The United States is number three for destination countries for human trafficking, number one the consumption of child rape videos, and we are now approaching number one in production of child exploitation material.”