Faith & Family News: 'David' S2 to New Streamer; 'Chosen' at Vatican

In this month's faith & family entertainment news: House of David Season 2 to tentpole new subscription service at Prime Video; The Chosen cast takes a break from filming in Italy to visit Pope Leo XIV; and Chip & Joanna Gaines go old school (very old school).

Big Change for House of David (and Joseph of Egypt Is Coming)

After premiering in late February on Prime Video, the Old Testament-based House of David -- a partnership between faith-based studio Wonder Project and Prime Video corporate sibling Amazon MGM Studios -- made a critical and ratings splash ... leaving fans wondering when they'd see Season 2.

Turns out that HoD S2 is coming this fall, but you'll have to pay extra to see it, over and above your Prime Video subscription. The new season is being used as the main attraction to launch an ad-free Wonder Project streaming service (a k a Streaming Video on Demand, or SVOD), available through Prime Video.

Here's Wonder Project co-founder Jon Erwin, on Instagram:

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A post shared by Wonder Project (@watchwonderproject)

From The Hollywood Reporter:

If you you want to watch season two (with any degree of timeliness), you’ll have to fork over another $8.99 per month on top of your existing Prime Video subscription. ...

The SVOD service, also titled Wonder Project, will be available in the U.S. this fall. It will feature early access to new Wonder Project original films and series, and, at launch, have “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,” Tuesday’s announcement reads. The library will feature mostly non-Wonder Project content.

Season two of House of David will be on Wonder Project in time for launch; it will be made available on Prime Video “at a later date.”

The S2 renewal for HoD -- rated TV-14 for violence and mature elements -- came less than three weeks after its premiere. S1 ended with the climactic battle between young David (Michael Iskander) and the giant Goliath (Martyn Ford) -- a half-human/half-fallen-angel Nephilim (one of the shows extrabiblical elements).

Reportedly, S2 follows David's rise to the throne.

Erwin and his Wonder Project partners (which include The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins) are betting that HoD fans, and those looking for a curated selection of similar content, will be willing to pay even more than they already are.

We'll find out this fall if they're right.

In Other Amazon MGM News ...

With the hit Gospels-based drama The Chosen now firmly ensconced as a Prime Original on Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios is expanding its collaboration with Dallas Jenkins.

Last September, at ChosenCon, Jenkins announced several projects, including a series based on the Old Testament story of Joseph.

Last week, Amazon MGM Studios announced that it will be developing that series with Jenkins.

From Variety:

Jenkins is attached to executive produce the series, titled “Joseph of Egypt,” under his 5&2 Studios banner. Craig Wright will serve as writer and executive producer on the project, which is currently in development.

The official logline for the show states, “Betrayed by jealous brothers, Joseph defies all expectations and rises to incredible power in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. But when his past catches up with him, he is confronted with the ultimate test.” ...

The show falls under Jenkins’ and 5&2’s multi-faceted deal with Amazon MGM Studios, which was announced in February along with Amazon’s acquisition of exclusive U.S. streaming rights to and a theatrical release of new installments of “The Chosen.” In an interview with Variety in September 2024, Jenkins first revealed plans for a Joseph series as well as a multi-season series on the story of Moses.

Previously, Wright created the soapy OWN series Greenleaf, set at a Memphis megachurch; co-created FX's political drama Tyrant; and created ABC's rich-people-behaving-badly drama Dirty Sexy Money. His other writing credits include Lost, Six Feet Under, and the film Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

The Chosen at the Vatican

The Chosen recently spent three weeks filming segments of its Season 6 -- which focuses on the Crucifixion -- in the historic southern Italian town of Matera, a location also for The Passion of the Christ.

Much of this material will become part of the S6 finale, which Amazon MGM Studios will release to theaters as a standalone movie.

From Deadline:

Amazon MGM Studios and 5&2 Studios will release the Season 6 finale of The Chosen, as a feature film exclusively in theaters on March 12, 2027. Season 6 portrays the crucifixion of Jesus.

Additionally, Season 7 will kick off with a feature film depicting the resurrection of Jesus, exclusively in theaters on March 31, 2028. Both are being produced as standalone films designed for the big screen experience.

Just after the Matera filming finished, star Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, along with Jenkins, and fellow cast members George Xanthis (John the Apostle), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), and Vanessa Benavente (Mother Mary), took a side trip to the Vatican for a Wednesday audience with newly installed Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native.

From Catholic News Agency:

“The fact we’re here now, sitting at the Vatican… is a testament to, I think, how God wants to continue to further this mission to bring more people to Jesus and to bring Jesus to them,” Roumie, who plays Jesus in the wildly successful TV series on the Gospels, said during a press conference at the Vatican on June 23.

Season 5, Episode 4, “The Same Coin,” will be streamed at the Vatican’s Filmoteca theater on the afternoon of June 23.

And while in Rome, Roumie and the pontiff took "the selfie seen 'round the world":

The pope's social media posted the selfie even before Roumie did. The story got picked up in many places, including Variety, which quoted, of all places (for a secular showbiz trade publication), Catholic News Agency.

From the Variety story:

“When [Pope Leo XIV] was elected, I wept, because I never thought I’d see an American pope in my lifetime,” Roumie, who is Catholic, said during a press conference held prior to the Vatican screening, according to Catholic News Agency.

Chip & Joanna Go West -- Old West.

Home-renovation and decorating mavens Chip & Joanna Gaines are trying something new for their Magnolia Network and streamer Max, and they're going into the past to find it.

Back in 2002, PBS aired a show called Frontier House, one of a handful of series in which participants volunteered to live as if it was long ago. In the case of this show, it was as 1880s homesteaders.

The Gaineses are resurrecting that idea with the eight-episode weekly series Back to the Frontier, premiering July 10 on Magnolia Network and Max.

From the press release:

“This series taps into something we’ve always believed–that stepping away from the noise of everyday life can bring you closer to what matters most,” said Chip and Joanna Gaines. “It is proof that no matter where you find yourself, the most important part of home is the people you share it with.”

In the series, three families hailing from across the country join together in the wilderness surrounded by ten thousand acres of nature, without the modern conveniences of technology, running water, or electricity.

The Lopers (Alabama), Hanna-Riggs (Texas), and Halls (Florida) must live on the frontier for eight weeks, reinforcing their own shelters, raising livestock, collecting food, and rationing their supplies. Through this immersive experience, the families will have to reflect on their relationships and navigate the challenges that come with an 1880s lifestyle.

But will they obtain food and shelter enough to survive a frontier winter? That's the question.

Image: Michael Iskander in 'House of David'/Wonder Project, Amazon MGM Studios

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