Sound of Freedom's studio stablemate has smashed box office records, and it's fair to say that success had a lot to do with its predecessor.
The independent movie about child sex trafficking became the unlikely hit of 2023 and is the 10th most profitable film of the year so far. And now a new film from the same studio is following in its footsteps.
After Death is a feature documentary by director Stephen Gray examining what happens to people when they die. It features the first-hand accounts of people who've had near-death experiences and testimonies from scientists who researched the topic.
It was the fourth-highest-earning film at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend and had the second-biggest opening behind Five Nights at Freddy's, which earned $78 million. It has since gone on to become the best-earning feature documentary since 2018, netting more than $9 million.
But Gray remains humble about the film's phenomenal success.
"It feels surreal to be honest with you. I could never have imagined myself being in this place years back, when we first started," Gray told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
"I have a hard time celebrating and I have to work on that. But I'm just trying to take it all in."
After Death comes from independent Angel Studios, which distributed and marketed Sound of Freedom.
The studio applied the same grassroots fundraising and marketing campaign to After Death to great success, but Gray can't deny that following a phenomenon such as Sound of Freedom didn't have some kind of impact.
"We couldn't have predicted this and I don't think Angel had that planned either, but it's incredible for a film like this," he said.
Gray admitted to taking a gamble by partnering with Angel Studios, who when he approached them six months ago was not a known entity. He even chose Angel over a bigger Hollywood studio because there was something "distinctive about the team."
"They showed up for us, and we're only as many theaters as we are because of them, and that's something unique about Angel Studios," he explained.
The director set out to make the film after losing his brother-in-law, Marco in a 2012 car accident. He started researching death as a means of solace. Gray based his film on New York Times-bestselling books such as 90 Minutes in Heaven, Imagine Heaven, and To Heaven and Back.
"It gave me hope that I'll see my brother-in-law Marco again," Gray said of investigating the afterlife. "So I'm hoping that others will [gain hope] as well."
"I found early early in life that life can be very fragile and it can be short. We don't really know how much time we have. And people like to run away from death and not think about it because it's scary.
"So my hope is that this film does for others what it did for me, which was to reflect on what the purpose or meaning of life was for us here."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
