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How Jim Caviezel’s Wife Inadvertently Saved 200 Children from Child Trafficking
By Movieguide® Contributor
A safety concern from Jim Caviezel’s wife led to 200 children being saved from child trafficking during the filming of SOUND OF FREEDOM.
While Caviezel’s heart for the movie is one of the major draws for SOUND OF FREEDOM, he almost had to withdraw from the project due to his wife. After seeing the Columbian cartel portrayed in the TV show NARCOS, Caviezel’s wife was afraid for the safety of her husband, and the rest of the crew, if they traveled to Columbia for the movie.
Losing Caviezel would have been a massive blow to the project, as director Alejandro Monteverde and producer Eduardo Verástegui both believed he truly embodied the spirit of his character.
“[Caviezel’s] brave; he’s a Godly man, and I know he’s going to be an actor who is not going to just come here, play the role, go to the premiere, and then move to the next movie; he will stay with us until the end,” Verástegui explained on the Timcast IRL podcast.
To address Caviezel’s wife’s concerns, Tim Ballard, whom the movie is based on, suggested employing thirty ex-Navy Seals to protect the filming of the movie. The suggestion calmed her fears and Caviezel was given his wife’s blessing to shoot the movie in Columbia.
The ex-Navy Seals ended up doing more than just protecting the movie. Verástegui recalls half of the ex-Navy Seal team disappeared from the set; later, the cast and crew found out that they had participated in an undercover operation that saved 200 children from child traffickers in Cartagena.
The real-life operation largely mirrored the plot of the movie, which follows Caviezel portraying Tim Ballard as he rescues children from child trafficking in South America.
“Thank God for Jim Caviezel’s wife who said ‘no’ in the beginning,” Verástegui said – because that ‘no’ led to 200 children being saved before the movie had even finished production.
Movieguide® previously reported on SOUND OF FREEDOM:
“After praying to God for a miracle to happen for this film, please send an angel to rescue this film, Angel Studios rescued this film and, because of them, millions of people are seeing this film in these ten days, more than 5 million people showed up in theaters, and I can’t believe that this is happening,” Verástegui explained. “I feel like I’m dreaming. This is the American dream. I’m holding the American dream right now. It’s all glory to God. This is a miracle.”
On its first day in theaters, SOUND OF FREEDOM outperformed INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, with Faithwire reporting that it made “$14.2 million on opening day, while INDIANA JONES made $11.7 million” the same day.
Star Jim Caviezel called SOUND OF FREEDOM “phenomenal,” adding, “Our film — I knew we could beat anyone in the world [at the box office].”
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