In this month's faith & family media news: House of David Season 2 goes wide; HBO acquires doc about Colin Farrell's courageous friend; pro-family film comes to Disney+; film-release updates.
House of David Season 2 Hits Prime Video
After premiering last October as the tentpole offering of new streaming service Wonder Project (available as an extra to Prime Video subscribers), season 2 of the Bible-based drama House of David comes to all Prime members on March 27.
From AboutAmazon.com:
“Most people don’t know the full depth of David’s journey,” explained Erwin, creator of House of David, who also directed and co-wrote a number of episodes. “His rise to greatness didn’t happen overnight. His story is about more than just a young boy facing down a giant. It’s about the journey of becoming who you were always meant to be.”
House of David Season 2 will be available to watch on Prime Video starting on March 27. Until then, the series is available exclusively through Wonder Project, a subscription offering available only on Prime Video in the U.S. for $8.99 a month.
Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video, which is included in a Prime membership.
Colin Farrell Celebrates His Friend Emma
In 2010, at a charity event for DEBRA Ireland -- which supports people with the rare disease Epidermolysis Bullosa -- Emma Fogarty wound up sitting next to Irish actor Colin Farrell. They became fast friends, leading to Farrell supporting Fogarty in dealing with her condition, which makes her skin extraordinarily fragile.
In late 2024, Farrell appeared with Fogarty on Ireland's The Late Late Show, talking about their fundraising efforts to help sufferers.
Farrell starred in the (so far) only season of HBO Max's The Penguin, based on the DC Comics character. No word yet on whether he'll return in that role, but HBO has acquired streaming rights to The Slightest Touch, a life-affirming documentary about Fogarty and her condition, in which Farrell also appears.
From a Feb. 23 story in Deadline.com:
Ahead of its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival later this month, HBO Documentary Films landed the film, which comes from director Rachel Fleit ...
The film follows Fogarty, who lives with EB, a rare and extremely painful genetic condition that leaves her skin so fragile it blisters and tears at the slightest touch.
As she turns 40, the age doctors predicted she would never reach, she takes up an offer from her long-time friend, Colin Farrell, to complete the Dublin Marathon together, with Farrell pushing her wheelchair for the final few miles. It follows their lives and the enduring friendship that has sustained them through the years.
The film will launch later this year on HBO Max around the world, including in the U.K. and Ireland.
Disney 'Versa' Pro-Life
Rumored to be released on March 27 on Disney+, the six-minute short film Versa is a deeply personal story that celebrates the joys -- and sorrows -- of pregnancy.
From Disney.Fandom.com:
Versa is an upcoming 3D computer-animated short that was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film was inspired by the director and his wife's loss of their infant son.[1] It will be released on Disney+ on March 27, 2026.[2]
And, from Deadline.com:
After experiencing a tremendous loss, some try to stay grounded in their community, while others turn to the stars for answers about life’s grand design. In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ artistic director Malcon Pierce’s Oscar-qualifying short Versa, a pair of celestial lovers try to work together to pull themselves out of a black hole of despair after the loss of their baby in the last stage of pregnancy.
Though the six-minute short has no dialogue, it has plenty to say through dazzling animation, a beautiful score, and by moving the nameless male and female couple through the galaxy with nothing but expressions that run the gamut from joy to loss, grief and acceptance.
Pierce and his wife lost their unborn son, whom they named Cooper. In Deadline, Pierce said:
Ultimately, it was my wife who ended up shining a light on how I was dealing with the situation. Her method of dealing with grief was by living it and facing what had happened, and she would always talk about, “I wonder what Cooper would’ve looked like,” Or “Man, remember when we went here and did this and that?”
I found it very scary, so I was doing the opposite, where I just tried to keep myself distracted, and I was like, “I’m not going into the nursery. I don’t think I’m ready.” It was this idea that if I shut out this loss, I’d get better, and when I’m better, I’ll be able to talk about it. My wife is a photographer, and she said to me, “I feel like it’s important that we capture the moment.”
And so, she took pictures of herself in the nursery with the crib, his clothes, and some other stuff we had gotten for him. She found comfort in continuing to have a relationship with Cooper this way.
Then it was my turn, but I couldn’t go inside the nursery. So, I’m standing outside in the doorway, and she takes a picture. Then she said that both of us should go in there.
And, I was so resistant to it, but she told me, “This is important, you need to do it. It’s going to be OK, because I’ll be there with you.” So, I went in.
What I expected to happen when I entered the nursery happened. I felt like I got split open. Everything was just so heavy; I never made sounds like that before. My wife took a picture of that moment.
Then afterwards, we had this picture of the two of us in there, and later on, I was looking at these photos, and it was such a turning point in my experience with this story.
There's much more at Deadline about how the story came to life in animation.
More Film News
The Breadwinner, the new Sony Pictures film starring Christian comedian Nate Bargatze (host of CBS' edition of the Emmy Awards last fall), originally scheduled for this month, will now be hitting theaters on May 29.
Bargatze is also a co-writer and co-producer of the film about a lifelong breadwinner whose wife (Mandy Moore) lands a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from an appearance on ABC's Shark Tank. This requir him to become a stay-at-home dad to the couple's three young daguthers.
The Knights of Columbus have launched a new edition of their Into the Breach series, called The Dignity of Work. It " examines the nature of work and its role in a man’s life and his sanctification, as well as its role in ordering creation." You can watch it here.
Images: Prime Video/Wonder Project/Disney+
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.
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