Angel Studios Makes 'Overall' Deal With Monteverde, Reminiscent of Old Hollywood

Hollywood just doesn't talk about their deals anymore, because it doesn't make them look good in the news. I mean, who would trust them to shepherd their all-inclusive contract with them and expect it to be without incident? It's like agreeing to a ten year deal to eat exclusively from the discount Cruise Ship salad and seafood bar that has had back-to-back botulism and salmonella outbreaks for the last twenty years. Are you serious? How about, no?

But in the last year Angel Studios has successfully changed the game in the film industry. Obviously they were beginning this process before then, with The Chosen, but they really brought it to theaters in a major way this last year. Alejandro Monteverde was a direct cause and participant with much of this breakaway success with the two films, Sound of Freedom and Cabrini, that have made the idea of Angel "taking back" theaters from Hollywood seem much more possible.

I guess there are still places in our country that will actually reward filmmakers that work hard to make great films for their fans and ticket-buyers. Because looking at Hollywood these days, you'd think that they don't even feel the need to include fans at all.

But Angel appears to be bringing back some of these deals that benefit everyone, including the studios, filmmakers, actors, investors, and fans. They even recently brought a "first-look deal" to actor Neal McDonough, who played the menacing villain, The Benefactor, in 2023's The Shift. Neal accepted with verve, mentioning the upcoming The Last Rodeo, which may end up at Angel as a result of that deal.

Just to clear it up, a "first-look deal" gives the studio the first "right-to-refusal" of a film producers work. This means that Angel has the right to see and to purchase The Last Rodeo before anyone else, and if they refuse then others can step in. But an "overall deal" grants even more rights to the studio, which allows them to basically own and use all of Monteverde's work for the duration of the deal, which in this case is ten years.

Watch McDonough and Angel discuss the first-look deal here, near the end of this year's Illuminate event.

Lest we forget their issue with The Chosen, which we will not. I consider this an apples-to-oranges comparison since one is primarily a show, and the other is primarily theatrical films. Possibly their situation with their shows needs to have a 2nd look, in their contracts, but with film the future appears to be bright.

THR.com reports that this overall deal has curious terms, but the way Hollywood used to be run, this is somewhat run-of-the-mill. Angel Studios inks in a residential deal for him (obviously he will stay there while making films in Utah) in the $4-5 mil range, as part of it. In exchange, he is obligated to mentor and give notes to other filmmakers there as well as to make 5-10 films in a ten year period that are deemed "theatrical-worthy" by the Angel Guild.

My guess is that in order for this to be a classic overall deal in the way that Hollywood used to do it, he'd also have to sign a "morality clause" to make sure that he didn't "do anything stupid" to ruin his reputation the way so many in Hollywood feel the need to do (and many studios still feel the need to include this morals clause in contracts, today).

But something tells me that Angel Studios doesn't feel the need to do this the way Hollywood did.

The estimated worth of this deal for Monteverde could be about $12 million not including stock options at Angel.

Is he worth it? I'd say yes, considering Sound of Freedom's massive success from last year. From 2022 to 2023 (the year Sound of Freedom came out) the company went from a loss of $13 mil to a net income of $9 million, reported. This doesn't speak of the entire revenue numbers, which were far greater. Going from $75 mil. in 2022 to a $202 mil. revenue (income before expenses) in 2023, more than doubling.

The man has earned his keep. And his mentorship to other filmmakers may make the rest of their films far more profitable, as well.

Did you enjoy this article? What is your feeling on Alejandro Monteverde's overall deal at Angel Studios? Do you think he will make great films there in the next ten years? Let us know your thoughts down below (with subscription) or on our social medias!