HOUSE OF DAVID Slings Into No. 2 Spot on Prime Video

March 14, 2025

Published: March 14, 2025

HOUSE OF DAVID Slings Into No. 2 Spot on Prime Video

Movieguide® Contributor

Prime Video’s HOUSE OF DAVID just knocked INVINCIBLE out of its spot on the charts, coming in behind REACHER at No. 1.

The show has an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It will release three more episodes before its first season ends.

The series begins in Bethlehem, 1000 B.C. It follows David’s journey from a harpist and shepherd boy to a courageous king. It also explores the drama between the House of Saul and the House of Samuel. “This is a war of houses,” adds executive producer Jon Erwin, who directed Teddy Bear Award®-winning JESUS REVOLUTION and produced THE UNBREAKABLE BOY.

In the last episode (episode 5), David’s affection for the first princess of Israel grows rapidly, as King Saul’s madness deepens. Upcoming episodes will feature the battle between David and Goliath.

Erwin was pleasantly surprised when Amazon wanted to pick up HOUSE OF DAVID.

“We were thinking about doing it independently at the time,” said Erwin. “It was a huge surprise and a miracle that Amazon would really see our audience with this kind of legitimacy and give us these kinds of resources and yet allow us to be in control of the material.”

Executive producer Jon Gunn said, “We weren’t looking to make a religious show. We’re looking to make a compelling show that we would want to watch and so, if it works, it’s not at all about religion. It’s about these humans in this moment living this story.”

Erwin says his team tried to focus on the first three chapters in Samuel for this first season of the show. The book of Psalms was essential to providing insight about David’s character and personality.

“There are only a few psalms where he’s like, ‘Thank God, my life is good.’ Most of them are like, ‘I’m depressed. I’ve failed myself and my family.’ It really is the spectrum of human emotions in this incredibly honest, authentic way,” Erwin said.

Michael Iskander plays David in the series. He’s just what Erwin and Gunn were looking for, but the search for the perfect David wasn’t easy.

“We were determined to find a David who was a teenager, not yet a man, somebody who had the potential to become a leader and a warrior but had the spirit of a kid who was frustrated with his father being stuck at home and wanting to live a life,” Gunn said.

“This was months and months of failing and not finding our person to the extent that you start to wonder, can we even make ‘House of David?’” Gunn recalled.

It seemed like it was meant to be when Iskander auditioned.

One day while watching THE CHOSEN, the young actor said aloud, “’I’d love to be on something like that one day.’ I told my family, and they’re like, ‘Who would you even play?’ I said, ‘maybe King David,’” Iskander said. “Fast-forward three years later and I got an email that said, ‘audition for the character David.’” He sent in a couple of auditions, and Erwin and Gunn finally had their David.

HOUSE OF DAVID’s next episode will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Mar. 20.