Sound of Freedom director Alejandro Monteverde talks plans for a sequel and addresses the film’s reputation

Last Updated on August 24, 2023

Sound of Freedom is due to make its debut in international markets later this month. This will continue its run as a surprise hit of the summer after having a seemingly under the radar release, then putting up box office numbers that rivaled that of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The movie gained notoriety for its sudden success and for the reputation of being associated with the politically controversial group, Q-anon. The director, Alejandro Monteverde, had been working on the film since 2015, and since its success, even with its subject matter, the director doesn’t rule out the possibilities of exploring further with a continuation.

Recently, Monteverde, spoke with Variety where he talks about interest in doing a Sound of Freedom sequel, “There’s definitely a lot of interest to exploring [the subject] a little deeper, because this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot of interest to kind of explore Haiti, what’s happening in Haiti. There’s [sequel] talks focusing on Haiti.” He was, then, asked if Caviezel‘s character, Tim Ballard, would be returning or if it would be a new character. “Haiti was a big part of Tim’s work. I was very tempted to do Haiti on this film. But I wanted to do an origin story, and it was too much material. I needed to end where I ended.” 

The film was a hotbed of discussion given the issues explored in the film being that of child trafficking. However, it became a target of controversy when the movie and the filmmaker himself were said to be associated with Q-anon. The interviewer asks Monteverde about the negative perception that bestowed on his movie and he responded, “I was like really sick. I was like, ‘This is all wrong. That’s not true.’ It was heartbreaking when I saw all this polemic and all this controversy going on. My instinct was to run. I want to hide. I don’t want to give any more interviews. Before the movie came out, I did a couple of interviews. Look, when you hire people, what they do on the free time, I can’t control. 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. [Caviezel] adopted three children from China. When we met and discussed the project, he broke down in tears. And I was like, ‘Wow, this guy’s gonna be willing to die on the set.’ And that’s what you want, you know? You want somebody who works for you. And he dove in.”