Following The Chosen: House of David, The Promise Land, Testament, & the New Wave of Bible Shows
It is a good time to be a fan of Bible shows. Season 4 of The Chosen has brought the acclaimed Jesus show to new heights in terms of production values, storytelling, and popularity, and we have every reason to believe that Season 5 will continue that upward trend. And The Chosen is no longer the only Bible show in town. In just the past week, there's been a lot of news related to several Bible-based projects that are hoping to follow in the success of The Chosen. And so here's a quick rundown of several shows that are either in production or are even available to enjoy right now.
House of David
First off is the House of David, which is being produced by John Erwin and The Wonder Project in collaboration with Amazon Studios. The House of David is a multi-season show that will follow David's rise from being a shepherd to the King of Israel. House of David was first announced earlier in 2024, but it made news recently by releasing its cast, which will include a relatively unknown actor, Michael Iskander, as David, alongside more established actors like Stephen Lang as Samuel and Ali Suleiman as King Saul. Although it doesn't look like House of David is officially a part of The Chosen universe, Dallas Jenkins is a shareholder and a special advisor to the project.
An official date for House of David hasn't been released yet, but it will probably be at least a year or more until we get the first season, which they just secured the cast and production for, because it takes, you know, quite a bit of time to put everything together.
David & The Outlaws (The Bible-Verse)
If you can't wait for a year to dig into the story of David, though, you should consider checking out The Bible Verse Project, a podcast in which some friends and I plan theoretical adaptations of biblical stories. Our current story is focused on David's time as a leader of a band of outlaws while on the run from Saul. It'll be a little different from House of David, since our story will be told from the perspective of David's followers, kind of similar to how The Chosen is told from the perspective of Jesus's followers and not Jesus himself.
Young David
Another option if you're looking for David content right now is Young David, an animated show by Phil Cunningham that is currently available on the Angel app and on Minno. As the name implies, Young David is a prequel to David's rise to power, which is told in the Book of Samuel, and it is aimed at a younger audience. I was watched the show with my four year old daughter and she really seemed to enjoy it. As an adult, I appreciated some of the interesting ways that the show was setting up David's character and the elements of the Book of Samuel. Young David serves as a prequel for the animated movie David, which is slated for 2025 and is also being produced through Angel Studios.
The Promised Land
Another show that you could look forward to enjoying in the near future is The Promised Land, a comedy that focuses on the family of Moses during the exodus from Egypt. The Promised Land is created by Mitch Hudson who's served as an assistant director for The Chosen, and it stars cast members from The Chosen. Moses will be played by Wasim No'Mani, who plays Yanni, a Pharisee in The Chosen, and Miriam will be played by Shaheen Khan, who plays Herodias, the wife of Herod in The Chosen. The trailer for The Promise Land is available now and you can look forward to watching Episode 1 on July 1st on YouTube.
Testament
If you're looking for something that's in the New Testament era, you can look forward to Testament. Paul Syrstad's upcoming adaptation of the Book of Acts, which takes place in an alternate history in which Jesus didn't come until the modern era. Testament. The show recently finished shooting and is now in post-production. It's expected to be released sometime in the spring of 2025.
The Chosen Spin-Offs
If you're looking for something that's more directly connected to The Chosen, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dallas Jenkins hinted at plans for several spin offs, including a sequel series set during the Book of Acts, an animated kids series that kind of weaves its way around The Chosen, and a movie focused on the Book of Ruth. None of these projects are official yet, so it'll probably be a few years until we see any of them, because Dallas Jenkins obviously has a lot of things to keep his his himself busy right now, but suffice to say that you can expect a lot more content from The Chosen team in the years to come, even after the show finishes its seven season run.
I'm curious which of these projects you're most excited for? Which ones would you like me to cover in greater depth? Are there any other Bible-based projects out there that I've missed? Let me know in the comments below!
I will try to catch your podcast. Truly, it sounds interesting.
It's a little bit difficult to comment on the two David movies completely. If you don't own the physical media (I don't for the Ted Turner mini-series), you sometimes get the odd feeling that they have cut certain scenes for Amazon Prime. At least, I can verify that this has happened with various series in the past, like "Vikings" -- but I wouldn't go so far as to say that Amazon Prime edits original theatrical releases.
Just looking briefly at the made-for-cable two part movie, the producers definitely put tons of money into set design and cinematography. I'm pretty good at interior design, so I appreciate all these wonderfu…
Kevin,
This is a pretty good summary of what projects we can expect. Thank you for letting us know.
I would be interested in any analysis and comments you will have about House of David.
I must admit that I am obsessed with David's story, and thus, I have done an in-depth study of 1st and 2nd Samuel. When The Chosen has a flash-back to King David, my eyes lock on the screen and my ears perk up! I have also seen a number of Hollywood funded biblical adaptations of David's story, among them: (1) King David, a 1985 film starring Richard Gere in the title role, and (2) A two-part movie about David which was part of an extens…
I'd be happily surprised if Dallas and the same actors and crew make that series set during the Book of Acts. Such a show holds the most interest for me.
Yet I do not trust their industry to deliver it. Do you, Kevin?
Hey, overall I am very reluctant to raise any expectations for anything at the quality of The Chosen ever happening again. My feeling is that it would have to have God behind it to work as well as what we're seeing now.
Perhaps I am too jaded about "christian entertainment" or about Hollywood in general. Sure, maybe one day I'll take a look at the House of David, but the rest of the shows you mentioned do…