An adventure epic that shares narrative and aesthetic parallels to Lord of the Rings is landing on Amazon today. But be careful: calling it fantasy could offend some.
Amazon Prime Video has long been home to the fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. If you watch the trailer for the brand-new adventure format The House of David, you might easily assume that it is a new season about curly-haired harpies and dishevelled wizards. However, the template is not a biblical Tolkien epic, but the actual Bible.
The House of David on Amazon: Biblical story as adventure epic
In House of David, the well-known story from the Old Testament is adapted as an adventure series. It tells the story of David (Michael Iskander), who rises from a simple shepherd boy to the King of Israel about 1000 years before Christ, after he defeats the superior giant Goliath with his slingshot. King Saul (Ali Suliman) also sends him to war against the Philistines.
Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen One) came up with the concept together with the two showrunners Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn, who have already earned their pious spurs with Christian films such as Ordinary Angels or I Still Believe.
The House of David was filmed in Greece and Canada, where Stephen Lang as Samuel, Ayelet Zurer as Queen Ahinoam, Oded Fehr as Abner and Louis Ferreira as Isai also stood in front of the camera.
When does The House of David start and how many episodes are there?
The biblical adventure epic is included in the Prime Video flat rate from February 27, 2025 and comprises eight episodes. Three episodes are available immediately, after which it continues in weekly installments until the season is complete on April 3.
A second season should not be expected, as The House of David is a miniseries that culminates in a finale. However, if the format is very successful, further biblical-based sandal formats cannot be ruled out. After all, no rights have to be acquired to film the Old or New Testament.
