'Sound of Freedom' Director Says Controversy Surrounding the Surprise-Hit Film 'Breaks My Heart'

"Sound of Freedom" director Alejandro Monteverde addressed star Jim Caviezel's controversial comments in new interviews

As Sound of Freedom continues to drum up surprise box office success while also facing backlash, the film's director is speaking out about the mixed reception to the thriller.

The movie, reportedly made on a $15 million budget, has so far earned over $172 million at the domestic box office since it debuted in theaters on July 4.

A fictionalized version of a true story, Sound of Freedom is about a man who makes it his mission to rescue children from human-trafficking operations.

It has faced criticism not only for what some experts say is a skewed perception of how child trafficking usually occurs, but also because of its star, Passion of the Christ and Person of Interest actor Jim Caviezel, who has aligned himself with far-right conspiracies like QAnon, which he called a "good thing" while promoting the movie on Steve Bannon's podcast.

Former President Donald Trump even hosted a private screening of the movie in July in New Jersey.

Alejandro Monteverde, the Mexican writer/director behind the film, recently spoke out in a series of interviews, addressing the controversies, which he told the Los Angeles Times he at first wanted to "distance" himself from.

Related: What to Know About Jim Caviezel's Surprise Hit Movie 'Sound of Freedom'

"I don’t want to be part of anything that falls in the area of politics. So when I started seeing division, my first instinct was to run," he said. "... But then later, I realized by distancing myself, the whole story wasn’t coming to light."

He admitted that Caviezel, 54, and the actor's promotion of conspiracy theories "did have an impact [on the film] that was not in line with who I am as a person, as a filmmaker, as a storyteller."

Monteverde explained to Variety that he began working on Sound of Freedom in 2015. About the backlash to the film upon its release this summer, the director said he got "really sick" seeing it.

"It was heartbreaking when I saw all this polemic and all this controversy going on. ... Look, when you hire people, what they do on the free time, I can’t control," he said. "I was a director. I wrote the screenplay. I hired the actor I thought was the best for this film. The subject matter was very personal to him."

Conservative moviegoers have rallied behind Sound of Freedom, claiming its delayed release to the public (after Disney bought Fox, it eventually sold the film to Angel Studios, which distributes Christian faith-based projects) was Hollywood trying to suppress it.

However, Monteverde explained the reason the film took so long to reach audiences.

"It was with Fox International, so the movie did get lost in limbo [after Disney acquired Fox in 2019]. And then, you know, the producer raised a little bit of money and bought the film back," he told Variety. "Then we were thinking, ‘Okay, let’s go out [and shop it].’ Then COVID. Boom. People were always telling you even before they saw the film, ‘Right now, people want to see uplifting films.' "

"Then, the Harmon brothers [who founded Angel Studios] came in, and they just had a completely different way of marketing a film that I’ve never seen."

The filmmaker told USA Today that it "breaks my heart that this movie is in any way, shape or form part of a controversy. It shouldn't be."

"My goal with this movie was to create awareness on the subject matter and we've been successful. Many people are talking about it."

He continued, "No one expected that this film would make close to $200 million in box office and that it was going to have this reaction, well outside of any political label or conspiracy group. The majority of the box office connects with the film on a very profound level, because it speaks a lot about hope. And that resonates in our lives."

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