I have followed faith-based box office stories for years, and the opening weekend of David in December 2025 still stands out to me as a genuine turning point. When Angel Studios released its animated musical about the biblical story of David and Goliath on December 19, 2025, it did not arrive as a quiet holiday alternative. It stepped directly into the shadow of James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash, a sequel to two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Avatar: Fire and Ash was projected to debut at No. 1 with more than $80 million domestically. Even so, David carved out a remarkable story of its own, and by 2026 I still see its opening weekend as one of the most fascinating box office narratives of that season.

Angel Studios reported that, as of Sunday morning, David was projected to earn a three-day domestic total of $22 million by the end of its opening weekend. That was not enough to challenge Avatar 3 directly, but it smashed multiple records. For Angel Studios, it became the highest-grossing opening weekend ever, beating Sound of Freedom's $19.7 million. Sound of Freedom was the controversial 2023 hit that eventually earned $250.6 million worldwide. I remember how that film's success shocked the industry, and David's debut built on that same faith-driven momentum.

The animated feature also earned the biggest opening weekend in history for a faith-based animated movie. It beat Angel Studios' previous 2025 feature The King of Kings, which starred Oscar Isaac as Jesus Christ. The King of Kings had earned $19.4 million, which had previously surpassed The Prince of Egypt's $14.5 million. That earlier record had ended the iconic DreamWorks movie's 27-year reign. In one weekend, David pushed faith-based animation into new territory, proving that this genre could draw a sizable theatrical audience.

David also dominated the non-Avatar new releases during a robust weekend at the domestic box office. It took No. 2 behind the James Cameron behemoth. It surged past Nickelodeon's animated feature The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants and the Sydney Sweeney thriller The Housemaid, which adapts the bestselling novel of the same name. That second-place finish mattered because it showed that David was not merely serving a niche. It was competing with mainstream family and thriller releases, and it won.

Yet I always advise caution with Angel Studios' box office numbers. The studio seems to have connected strongly with its core faith-based audience, especially for releases tied to Christian holidays. David was a pre-Christmas release, while The King of Kings was a pre-Easter release. That timing clearly helped. David also earned a superb 98% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, indicating a strong reaction from viewers. However, Angel's grosses have long been accused of being artificially inflated. Just like 2023's Sound of Freedom and many Angel Studios releases before it, David benefited from a Pay it Forward program. That program encourages moviegoers to buy extra tickets that will allegedly be given to others at a later date. Information on whether all of those tickets are actually dispensed and used remains opaque.

Even with that caveat, I cannot ignore the cultural footprint. David is a 115-minute animated musical, family, drama, music, and history film. It was co-written and co-directed by Brent Dawes and Phil Cunningham. The voice cast includes Brandon Engman as Young David, Phil Wickham as David, Asim Chaudhry as King Achish, and Mick Wingert as Zaydel. Brent Dawes wrote the screenplay, and the producers were Tim Tebow, Phil Cunningham, and Jacqui Cunningham. The film's release date was December 19, 2025. By 2026, I see it as a milestone that faith-based animation can no longer be dismissed as a minor corner of the market.

📊 Quick Reference: David at a Glance

🎬 Why David Mattered in 2025 and Still Matters in 2026

I think the most important lesson from David is that release strategy can be as powerful as brand recognition. Angel Studios chose a pre-Christmas date, a time when families are looking for shared entertainment and faith-based audiences are especially engaged. The studio had already tested that approach with The King of Kings before Easter. David expanded the playbook with music, animation, and a familiar biblical hero. The combination of a 98% audience score and a $22 million opening projection gave the film a strong narrative, even if its grosses deserve scrutiny.

The competition with Avatar: Fire and Ash also gave David a useful underdog story. Avatar was expected to dominate, and it did. But David became the clear No. 2 among new releases, beating The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants and The Housemaid. For a faith-based animated musical, that is a striking result. It suggests that the audience for religious animation is larger and more theatrical than many analysts assumed.

⚠️ The Caveats I Keep in Mind

I do not take Angel Studios' numbers at face value. The Pay it Forward program makes it difficult to know how many tickets were actually used by real moviegoers. That opacity has followed the studio since Sound of Freedom. Still, the audience score, the holiday timing, and the film's No. 2 finish all point to genuine interest. I can question the exact gross while still acknowledging the cultural impact.

🙏 Final Thoughts

As I look back from 2026, David feels like more than a single opening weekend. It is a case study in faith-based marketing, holiday release timing, and animated storytelling. It broke Angel Studios' opening record, topped The King of Kings for faith-based animated debuts, and held its own against a James Cameron sequel. Whether or not every ticket was used, David proved that biblical animation can still make noise at the box office.