One of the biggest religious blockbusters of the last five years surpassed by replacing ‘House of David’ at the box office

Although the market for religious-themed films has grown over the past decade, with more mainstream studios coming in to compete with specialty distributors, there appears to be a ceiling. Movies like Mel GibsonIt is Hacksaw crest And The Passion of Christ are anomalies because they have managed to break into the mainstream and appeal to the general public. But, at a time when most studios were struggling to gain a foothold in theaters a few years ago, a faith-based film showed how underserved its target demographic had been and how eager it was to return to theaters. In 2023, the film Jesus Revolution managed to gross over $50 million at the domestic box office, ranking ahead M.Night ShyamalanIt is Knock on the cabin, Gareth Edwards‘ The Creatorand the Jennifer Laurent-directed comedy No hard feelings.

And now, a few years later, Jesus Revolution was overtaken by the new denominational success in town: David. Released during the lucrative holiday season, the crowd-funded film the animated film is now earned over $52 million at the domestic box officeexceeding Karate Kid: Legends, The naked gunAnd Bong Joon-hoIt is Mickey 17. Like most religious films, David was adopted by its target audience. It currently sits at a 72% critics score and a 98% “verified hot” audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus reads: “David is as likable as its disjointed hero, making up for its predictability with beautifully animated backgrounds and a universally enjoyable moral. »

Faith-based content also attracts a considerable number of people at home

The film comes from Angel Studios, the specialty distributor behind several recent religious titles. In recent years, Angel has also released films such as The last rodeo, Property, Goatsand the animated hit The king of kings. Released in 2025, The king of kings has an audience score of 97% on RT and managed to gross $60 million at the box office. This means David is about to surpass it while the second biggest hit in Angel’s history, behind the controversial The sound of freedom. This new wave of theatrical success for faith-based titles has been supported by several streaming shows, like The elected officials And House of David. Incidentally, House of David was created by Jon Erwinwho also co-directed Jesus Revolution. You can watch David in theaters and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.