Faith & Family News: 'Broken Mary'; Catholic 'David'; 'Chosen' on App

In this month's faith & family media news: Broken Mary brings a true story of hope and redemption to theaters for one night only; the star of the Wonder Project's David series becomes Catholic; and The Chosen announces when Season 5 lands on the app.

Our Lady of the Broken and Her Radio-Guy Roadie

On Oct. 7, in theaters for one night only, comes Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story, a new film about a man who had it all, stumbled hard, and then found his way back to the light ... with a little divine intervention.

Especially in the '80s and '90s, Chicago radio legend Kevin Matthews was known for his outrageous humor and wild on-air antics. Matthews, a cradle-Catholic husband and father, has three times been nominated to the Radio Hall of Fame, but changes in the radio biz and a downturn in his health left him at a low point ... and distanced from his faith.

Then, a chance (or was it?) encounter with a busted statue of the Virgin Mary lying near a dumpster set him on a whole new path in life ... with Our Lady of the Broken at his side.

As Matthews says, "I've listened to our Blessed Mother, and I'm just doing what she says to do. And that's how come I am her roadie."

In theaters on Oct. 7 from From Family Theater Productions and ODB Films in association with Windrider and Dynamic Catholic, Broken Mary features interviews with Matthews' past radio colleagues, former Chicago Bears player Tom Thayer, radio personality Mancow ... and even some priests.

Click here to learn more and get info on theaters and tickets -- and click here to read my interview with Matthews.

Star of Wonder Project's David Series Becomes Catholic

Faith-based production company The Wonder Project's Bible-based drama House of David was a big hit on Prime Video when it premiered earlier this year. A lot of attention centered on the young man playing the title character, the future King David.

Born in Egypt and raised since the age of nine in America, Michael Iskander was baptized into the Coptic Orthodox faith, the ancient Christian church of Egypt.

But, Iskander recently made an announcement on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Michael Iskander (@mickoola)

It's the culmination of a long journey for Iskander, who didn't initially get accepted for the role of David.

From the National Catholic Register:

Iskander, 23, has shared in several interviews that he always dreamed of portraying King David but never thought it would happen. He was taking part in a Broadway production when he heard about the upcoming series focusing on Israel’s famous king. After his initial audition, Iskander was given a “No.” A couple weeks later, he was called to reaudition. Iskander was advised by his mother to pray and fast ahead of the second audition. Two months later, he was offered the role.

“For me, oftentimes God speaks with the softest voice and, for me, the softest voice was telling me ‘just hold out.’ ... I don’t want to say that I knew this was mine — I really believe that God can choose anyone to accomplish his will,” Iskander said in an interview with Naomi Raine. “It’s not about me, it’s about him doing his will and it’s about someone who was willing to do his will.”

Congratulations and welcome home to Iskander!

As for season 2 of House of David, it's set to premier this fall, but not in quite the same venue as season 1. It'll still be streaming on Prime Video, but you're going to need an extra subscription to a new Wonder Project streaming service to watch.

From TVLine.com:

If you want to see Season 2 of House of David this fall, you’ll have to cough up an additional nine bucks.

The faith-based drama will initially be exclusive to Wonder Project subscribers — a new subscription offering exclusively available through Amazon. That means, in addition to your Prime Video subscription, you’ll have to pay for Wonder Project, which will cost $8.99/month at launch.

The subscription-within-a-subscription promises “over 1,000 hours of highly curated movies and TV series that reflect the company’s mission: to entertain the world with courageous stories, inspiring hope and restoring faith in things worth believing in” — but if you don’t want all of that, don’t worry: exclusivity will eventually lapse, and House of David Season 2 will be available to all Prime Video subscribers at a later date.

As of this writing, there's still no exact date for the launch of the Wonder Project streamer or House of David season 2.

Premiere Date Announced for Season 5 of The Chosen on Its Free App

Season 5 of the Gospels-based hit series The Chosen has screened in theaters and streamed on Prime Video, its new exclusive streaming home.

But, it's finally coming to the place where people first saw The Chosen, its own dedicated free app.

From the inbox:

We’re reaching out with some pretty exciting news: All eight episodes of Season 5 will launch on “The Chosen” app on Sunday, September 28th.

That’s right, Season 5 is headed home—it’s just gonna take a few days. (You have no idea how long it takes eight episodes to walk all the way to “The Chosen” app. It’s like herding cats disciples.)

You don’t have to wait until September 28th to enjoy our app, though. We have all kinds of great content for you to enjoy right now: behind-the-scenes clips, cast check-ins, and livestreams galore.

Don't have "The Chosen" app yet? You can download it for free on the App Store and Google Play.

After Season 4 of The Chosen omitted the Transfiguration and especially almost all of the Bread of Life discourse, I had some concerns about how the Last Supper would be handled in Season 5. Click here to read that (warning: SPOILERS).

Image: Kevin Matthews in Broken Mary / Fathom Entertainment

Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.