Plot
In Bethlehem, David is a young musician who tends his father Jesse's flock of sheep. After protecting the flock from an Asian lion, David is called before Prophet Samuel, who anoints him as the future King of Israel. Samuel leaves when palace guards arrive to retrieve David to play the lyre for King Saul. David soothes Saul, who has become troubled as God has rejected him as king for his vices.
Saul is alerted when the Philistine army, led by King Achish, do not arrive to battle the Israelite army. In the Valley of Elah, the Philistines bring forth their champion, Goliath, a nine-foot giant. Goliath taunts Saul, his son Jonathan, and the Israelites to summon a worthy challenger. Firm in his faith in God, David decides to challenge Goliath. Saul dresses David in his armor, but they are too oversized for him. Instead, David retrieves smooth stones from a nearby riverbank and challenges Goliath to a fight, in which he kills Goliath slinging a stone to his forehead. Inspired by David's victory, the Israelites defeat the Philistine army.
Years later, David matures into a soldier in Saul's army, forming a strong friendship with Jonathan. Saul learns of a nearby Amalekite site, but when the Israelite army arrives, they find the Amalekites have left. Back in the palace, as David plays his lyre, Saul remembers the incident that made him lose his kingship, by disobedience to God for sparing the Amalekites to exploit despite being ordered to slay them. He realizes David is the prophesied King, and feeling betrayed, he throws a spear at David. Saul frames David for attempted murder, in which David flees for his life. When David is cornered, Jonathan fires an arrow at a construction site, knocking down a statue of Saul, inadvertently helping David escape.
Outraged, Saul and his army pursue David, killing those who assist him. David's family flee Bethlehem to escape persecution. He collapses in the wilderness, but is revived and takes shelter inside a cave. There, David is reunited with his family. Those inside are told of David's prophecy, but David insists he remains loyal to Saul. Meanwhile, Saul's army approach the cave. Dehydrated, Saul drinks from a waterfall inside. David decides to spare him and instead cuts a corner of Saul's robe, revealing himself to Saul, who forgives David and leaves.
David's family return to the Kingdom of Israel. Before long, the Philistines return to challenge the Israelites. David, his brother Eliab, and their warriors infiltrate the Philistine ranks to assist Saul and the Israelites. On the battlefield, they soon learn the Amalekites have attacked Ziklag, burned it, and taken the residents, including David's family, captive. As Saul and Jonathan are defeated by the Philistines, David and his warriors find that their families have been taken by the Amalekites, blaming David.
Faithful in God's deliverance, David approaches the Amalekites unarmed and is taken prisoner. As the Amalekite chieftain prepares to execute him, David begins to sing that he is unafraid, giving the Israelites the confidence to join in. His warriors arrive on the battlefield and liberate the Israelites. David recovers from the attempted execution shortly after, and the Israelites recognize him as their new King.
Production
Development
In October 2021, after their success with Jungle Beat and Jungle Beat: The Movie , co-writer, co-director and co-executive producer Phil Cunningham and co-executive producer Jaqui Cunningham announced, with a demo video, that Sunrise Animation Studios would produce Angel Studios' first animated musical film about the life of David based on the Book of Samuel found in the Old Testament which Cunningham had conceived from his childhood in Africa while reading David's story in the Bible and a quote from Acts 13:22: "I have found in David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart". [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Cunningham and Angel Studios co-founder Jordan Harmon stated that the intention for David was to bring back animated biblical stories for the whole world to enjoy. [10] Kirk Cameron informed his YouTube viewers about his support for Angel Studios and Sunrise Animation Studios in creating the film and urged them to invest in the project through crowdfunding. [11]
In order to conduct the research for David, the production team travelled to Israel and engaged with the environment with their tour guide, including the pottery from David's time and a 3000-year-old juglet used for decanting oil that they purchased. [12] [13] The team visited locations relevant to their research including the original city of Jerusalem, Hezekiah's tunnel, the Pool of Siloam and the Israel Museum. [14] They continued with a focus on the Valley of Elah and Ziklag, a local shop and concert area where they hiked to Qeiyafa (Shaaraim), where they viewed the battlefield between the Israelites and the Philistines. [15] They also covered most of the scenery of Wadi Qilt, using drone footage to create a sense of scale and space and covered their barefoot walk around in the Roman aqueduct, the monastery, Jericho and the Dead Sea. [16] After that, they conducted a ride on camels through the Kana`im Valley in the Judaean Desert from Kear Hanokdim, an oasis between the city of Arad and the citadel of Masada, to the Bedouin hospitality. [17] They documented in the footage of the artifacts including a demonstration of how to make pots, in an effort to demonstrate their reconstructive work to the public. They also swam in the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias. [18] Lastly, they provided an overview of the geography and essence of the Valley of Elah, where the battle between David and Goliath is said to have happened, during springtime by walking through a riverbed where David would have collected the stones for his sling. [19] [20]
In December 2021, Cunningham, co-writer and co-director Brent Dawes and art director Lynton Levengood streamed live about the concept art, animation, set design and color keys of David. [21]
Music
Jonas Myrin composed the songs for David in order to honor Israel through the roots of the country's storytelling in Hebrew. It was recorded in Budapest with music director Jason Halbert and the Budapest Film Orchestra. [10] [25] [26] Upon release, the album peaked at debuted number 20 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, [27] later peaking at number 5. [28] It featured six charted songs, "Psalm 8", "Follow the Light", "Shalom", "Adventure Song", "Why God - My God", and "Tapestry", which charted at respective positions of numbers 28, 29, 30, 35, 43, and 44 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. [29]
Release
David was originally scheduled for November 21, 2025, with Angel Studios set to distribute the film. [30] However, in October 2024, Slingshot Productions terminated its distribution agreement with Angel, citing "multiple alleged incurable contract breaches". [31] Slingshot filed a lawsuit against Angel in March 2025, seeking a new distributor for the film. [32] In October 2025, Angel Studios in partnership with 2521 Entertainment bought the complete film and television franchise rights of David from Slingshot USA, with the release rescheduled to December 19, 2025. [33] [34]
David follows a phased international release beginning in December 2025. After opening in the United States and Canada, the film debuted internationally in mid-December 2025 in Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, South Africa, Singapore, Nigeria, and Ghana. The rollout continued into early 2026 with releases in Brazil and Sri Lanka in January and Israel on February 28. [35]
The film will receive its widest international release in March 2026, spanning much of Europe and Latin America, including France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, the Balkans, and most Central and South American territories. Additional European releases will follow in April 2026 in Hungary and Spain. Japan is scheduled to release the film on 1 January 2027. [35]
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, David was released alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash , The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants , and The Housemaid , and was projected to gross $20–25 million from 3,100 theaters. [36] The film made $9.8 million on its first day, including $1.8 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $22 million, finishing in second behind Fire and Ash. [37] [38] Its opening broke the record for the highest weekend debut for an animated biblical film, which was previously held by The King of Kings ($19.4 million), another 2025 film released by Angel. [38] [39] In its second weekend, David grossed $12.5 million and finished in sixth place. [40] [41] The film then grossed $7.7 million in its third weekend and finished in seventh place. [42] [43]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 76% of 41 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "David is as likable as its scrappy hero, offsetting its predictability with gorgeously animated backgrounds and a universally appreciable moral." [44] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 55 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [45] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 85% overall positive score, with 71% saying they would definitely recommend the film. [37]
Calum Marsh of The New York Times found the film "preachy", criticizing the pacing, but described the animation as "surprisingly magnificent". [46] Richard Roeper of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars and wrote that it "has the highly detailed, brightly colored and screen-popping visuals of a DreamWorks or Disney film, a bounty of catchy tunes, and a storyline that manages to be faithful to the Books of Samuel, even as most of the characters talk as if they're modern Americans." [47]
