‘House Of David’: Prime Video Gets Biblical With New Drama

Back in 2016, ABC took a swing at the Books of Samuel with Of Kings and Prophets. Despite being handsomely produced and a bit racy, it lasted two episodes. But it’s certain that Prime Video will stream all seven episodes of House of David, its attempt at the tale.

The First Series From The Wonder Project

Premiering Feb. 27 with three episodes, House of David is the first product of the creative partnership between Amazon MGM Studios (the corporate sibling of Prime Video) and the Wonder Project, an independent studio co-founded by Jon Erwin (of the filmmaking Erwin Brothers of Lionsgate’s Kingdom Story Company).

Although he’s not directly involved in this production, The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins is both a shareholder and an advisor to the Wonder Project.

And, as I recently reported, The Chosen has also found an exclusive streaming home on Prime Video.

House of David Aims High

Shot in Greece and Calgary, Alberta, with an impressive scale and well-done special effects, House of David may not rival the budget or scope of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but it starts on a much higher pitch than the first season of The Chosen.

But like The Chosen, it takes a Biblical narrative and spins it out, retaining the basic spine of the story and expanding on it with additional characters and plotlines.

House of David also weaves in elements from extra-Biblical traditions and legends, including ones about the parentages of David and the giant Goliath (and as you can see from the trailer below, he is a proper giant).

Egyptian-born Michael Iskander plays David, leading an international cast that includes American actor Stephen Lang (Prophet Samuel); Israeli actors Avelet Zurer (Ahinoam of Jezreel) and Ali Suliman (King Saul); and British bodybuilder/actor Martyn Ford (Goliath).

Talking to Jon Erwin

Recently, I had a short chat with Erwin. The whole video is below, but here’s an excerpt.

On adding to the Biblical narrative:

Ken Burns has a term, he says emotional archeology, which I really like that term. And ultimately I think about the goal of the series. First of all, I want to make a really, really entertaining TV show.

It’s not hard to do with the story of David. Everything that a filmmaker could ever want is present in this story. But beyond that, I really want people to read this book. I am a believer and I am very, very inspired.

If you want to read ancient words that you can instantly relate to, that will move you, that will change your life if you let ’em read the Psalms of David. And for this king to write these incredibly authentic and honest words is pretty amazing. And as a dad, I have a hard time getting my kids to be interested in the Bible at all.

So what I tell people is, this is not the source material. This is not sacred. This is a TV show, but it is a love letter to the source material. And the goal is to create the most entertaining show possible, but that honors the themes that honors the story anytime that there is something.

The Bible describes events, and the Bible is sometimes flying through a theme park in a jet, especially in the Old Testament in this time. It’s giving you the events only in a few chapters. So to then try to extrapolate and create storylines over a multiple hours of television, you do have to really apply every aspect of the craft to that process.

But what I tell people, the goal is, hey, this is not Scripture, but I hope this gets people interested in Scripture again, as they watch an entertaining TV show. And it is meant to honor the source, reflect the source, and hopefully illuminate the source material a little bit, which I’m excited about.

Here’s the rest: