LOS ANGELES — Angel Studios says advance ticket sales for its animated biblical musical “David” have climbed past $14 million ahead of its nationwide theatrical debut in U.S. cinemas, Dec. 18, 2025.
The surge is adding fresh heat to Hollywood’s long-simmering bet on faith-based entertainment. Since Fathom Entertainment began distributing “The Chosen” theatrically in 2023, the series has grossed more than $116 million domestically, according to a report by The Associated Press.
In the AP account, Christian recording artist Phil Wickham — who voices King David — said the growing popularity of faith-based entertainment has been gratifying as more audiences and decision-makers treat religious storytelling as mainstream programming rather than a niche product.
Faith-based entertainment goes from niche to bankable
Angel disclosed the “David” presales in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating presales totaled about $14 million as of Dec. 16 and pointing to a nationwide release scheduled for Dec. 19.
The filing also underscored a key caveat: Presales are advance ticket purchases and “do not constitute recognized revenue,” meaning the real measure will arrive when moviegoers actually take their seats — a familiar risk in faith-based entertainment, where enthusiasm can run hot in early mobilization but still must translate into sustained turnout.
Angel has been updating the market as interest has accelerated. In a Nov. 13 press release, the company said “David” hit nearly $3 million in theatrical presales in three weeks, describing it as the strongest early presale performance in its history.
On the distribution side, the current moment is being driven as much by packaging as by message — event-style scheduling, group sales and word-of-mouth marketing that can make faith-based entertainment feel closer to a concert weekend than a traditional film rollout. Angel CEO and co-founder Neal Harmon told AP that breaking stereotypes has been central, saying some viewers assume “faith means cheesy or preachy.”
‘The Chosen’ effect: a blueprint beyond churchgoers
For “The Chosen”, theatrical releases have helped move faith-based entertainment into the conversation with conventional studio plays. “I think it’s pretty extraordinary for a TV show,” creator Dallas Jenkins said in an interview with People, arguing the show’s wider cultural footprint is proof the series can stand on “its own merits,” not just as a niche project.
That model — part crowd movement, part premium content strategy — has become a reference point as studios and streamers chase audiences that want values-forward stories without trading away production quality or broad accessibility.
Faith-based entertainment has been building for years
Today’s momentum did not appear overnight. A 2019 Vox look at “God’s Not Dead” traced how the 2014 sleeper hit helped fuel an alternative ecosystem for faith-based entertainment, including distribution and streaming pipelines designed to reach a committed audience directly.
In 2018, The Guardian’s report on “I Can Only Imagine” framed that film’s box office as evidence that religious audiences could reliably mobilize when studios treated the category as a serious commercial play.
And in 2023, Deseret News documented the early box office surge for “Sound of Freedom”, another Angel-backed release that intensified industry debate over whether faith-based entertainment could deliver repeatable, event-level turnout.
Now, “David” heads into theaters with a presale figure few animated musicals — religious or otherwise — can match. Whether the film converts that demand into box office receipts may help determine if Hollywood’s latest embrace of faith-based entertainment is a short-lived spike or a durable lane.
