Jim Caviezel believes Sound of Freedom would win the Oscar for Best Picture “in a fair world” – but, just like The Passion of the Christ, the Academy “won’t touch it” due to anti-Christian bias.
Out of Caviezel’s several controversies, he’s still best known for portraying Jesus in Mel Gibson’s ultraviolent The Passion of the Christ. The shoot was comparably gruelling: the actor was struck by lightning, endured hypothermia, and the resulting movie saw him widely blacklisted from mainstream Hollywood pictures.
However, he’s made a notable comeback this year thanks to Sound of Freedom, a thriller based on the “true story” of Tim Ballard’s efforts to rescue children from sex trafficking. To call it a sensation wouldn’t be an over-exaggeration: it’s grossed more than 10 times its $14 million budget, elbowing away mighty competition from the likes of Indiana Jones 5 and Barbie.
While reviews haven’t been as kind, the audience response has been emphatically positive (and hazardous, with fans reporting to be harassing trafficking survivors and advocates), and Caviezel believes it should win Best Picture – but that won’t happen.
Jim Caviezel calls out Oscars to give Sound of Freedom Best Picture
In an earlier promotional video for Sound of Freedom, as shared by Laura Aboli on Telegram, Caviezel discussed showing the film to two Oscar-winning directors. “Both of them were absolutely stunned. One of them is my good friend Mel Gibson, and the other one likes to remain anonymous. Mel was weeping,” he said.
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Jim Caviezel:"In a fair world, (Sound of Freedom) would hands down win best picture. Like the Passion, they won't touch this one. They were so upset that Jesus was the main attraction at the Oscar's that year. They chose to block us out (of the Academy). They've become… pic.twitter.com/dkZjpALynt
— jamiemcintyre (@jamiemcintyre21) June 24, 2023
“In a fair world, this would hands-down win Best Picture. But, like [The Passion of the Christ], they won’t touch this one… that year [2004] was the first year the Academy Awards got moved up two months earlier, and not on a Monday, but on a Sunday. So we started on a Wednesday, because it was Ash Wednesday.
“I remember Billy Crystal on stage with his mouth just dropped, because they weren’t the main attraction – Jesus was. He was the main attraction, and they were so upset, because here they were celebrating themselves… the people’s choice, the people said The Passion. They chose to block us out, and they’ve become the irrelevant show now.”
Caviezel went on to say he’s “done with the woke” and “pedo laws”, and also claimed Disney wanted him to remove God from the script of The Count of Monte Christo. “I held my ground and by God, they backed off. We’ve got to be strong Christians like that, to hold our ground when we have to. And say you know what, I’m not buying that product anymore,” he said.
Sound of Freedom is in cinemas now. Check out our other coverage below:
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How to watch Sound of Freedom
- Sound of Freedom box office
- Who is Jim Caviezel?
- Why did Disney shelve Sound of Freedom?
- Is Sound of Freedom not being promoted?
- Studio rejects claims of sabotaged screenings
- Sound of Freedom international release dates
- Sound of Freedom funder charged with child kidnapping
- Sound of Freedom studio shuts down claims of astroturfing