Angel Studios Announces Almost A Dozen New Projects at Illuminate Event (2024)

Published: June 13, 2023

Angel Studios Announces Almost A Dozen New Projects at Illuminate Event

By Movieguide® Contributor

During their annual illuminate event, Angel Studios celebrated a groundbreaking year while announcing that their upcoming projects include movies with actors Neal McDonough, Kristoffer Polaha and director Andy Erwin.

Erwin’s project, FOUNDERS, tells the story about the origins of the United States. He will also executive produce a previously announced project, TRUTH AND CONVICTION, which tells the story of a group of friends who opposed Hitler.

“I’ve come to just love the story of the creation of the country, and I’ve dreamed of telling it for years, and I’ve become convinced that the best place to tell it is right here,” Erwin said.

McDonough’s project, HOMESTEAD, is described by Angel as a “dystopian story of the power of family in the pressure cooker of an apocalypse.”

During the event, McDonough also lauded the studio for the consistent good content that they produce.

“How many times do you get to turn on any network or any streaming service and have zero fear about what your kids are about to see? That’s Angel, and that’s because of you guys,” said McDonough.

Angel studios also announced the release dates for two of their upcoming movies, SOUND OF FREEDOM (July 4th) and THE SHIFT (January 2024). The studio also revealed that previously announced projects THE TESTAMENT, PHARMA and THE GERMAN KING are going into production this year.

Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, celebrated the success of HIS ONLY SON, which placed 3rd at the box office during its opening weekend. HIS ONLY SON was the first theatrically released movie to crowdfund for distribution and advertising expenses.

“HIS ONLY SON had previously unknown actors, an unknown director and less than a $250,000 budget, but the Angel Guild saw something… that the big studios could never see,” Harmon said.

The other projects announced for the upcoming year include:

• TEMPEST: A “sweeping multi-season, animated allegory of the seven deadly sins (meets Moby Dick).”
• DRYBAR UNSCRIPTED: An “improv comedy series expanding the popular Drybar brand.”
• GABRIEL AND THE GUARDIANS: An “epic, anime-style saga based” on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• THE AXIOM CHRONICLES: An “explosive animated series parallelling the story of Moses in the Old Testament.”
• QUITTERS: A “multi-season drama chronicling the human side of overcoming addictions.”
• LIVE NOT BY LIES: A “documentary series exploring the stories of dissidents in Communist Eastern Europe.”
• TELEGRAM: A “feature film thriller about the sacrifice of one priest to keep Christianity alive in Communist Romania.”
• AFTER DEATH: A “documentary exploring near-death experiences and realizations about life beyond this one.”

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Movieguide® previously reported on the success of Angel Studios:

Angel Studios’ HIS ONLY SON is projected to take the third place spot at the box office this upcoming weekend. 

HIS ONLY SON was made with a budget of just $250,000 and has already made over $5.5 million at the box office, coming in just below JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 at the weekend box office. 

The movie is also the first theatrical release movie to crowdfund for distribution and advertising expenses.  

“We announced Angel Studios is officially in the theatrical game just two weeks ago when we appointed Brandon Purdie as our head of theatrical distribution, so we’re thrilled to have upset the box office with our first offering, which also happens to be the very first time in motion picture history that the P&A for a theatrical release was crowdfunded,” Jared Geesey, Angel Studios’ senior vice president of Global Distribution, said. “Theaters are selling out across the country.”

He continued, “The box office is full of big and loud films. HIS ONLY SON is a refreshingly deep and contemplative experience just in time for Easter Holy Week.”