Newsbites: House of David! The Flood! David: King of Israel!
House of David is the face of Amazon's new push into AI; Kevin Sorbo's Noah movie gets a new trailer; and Fox Nation's David docuseries gets a release date.
Amazon turns to AI, with House of David leading the way
Amazon is taking steps to use AI to “streamline the creative process”—and they’re pointing to their hit Bible series House of David as proof that this can work.
Reuters revealed Amazon’s AI plans last Wednesday:
At the Amazon MGM Studio, veteran entertainment executive Albert Cheng is leading a team charged with developing new AI tools that he said will cut costs and streamline the creative process. Amazon plans to launch a closed beta program in March, inviting industry partners to test its AI tools. The company expects to have results to share by May. . . .
Amazon emphasized writers, directors, actors, and character designers will be involved at every stage of production, using AI as a tool to enhance creativity.
Like many other tech companies, Amazon is also pushing nearly every division to find uses for AI and pointed to the successes of the technology as among the reasons it cut about 30,000 corporate jobs since October, its largest layoff ever. That included a number of job cuts at Prime Video.
Cheng said AI could help Prime Video overcome some of the inherent challenges of large scale film and television production.
The same day the Reuters report came out, Cheng and House of David creator Jon Erwin took to the stage at NATPE Global in Miami to talk about their plans for AI—and Erwin made some comments that echo and add to comments he has made before:
“Is it a faster way to work? Absolutely. Are there a lot of efficiencies? Is it cheaper? Absolutely. But beyond those two, it’s a more creative way to work. It’s a more collaborative way to work. It’s a new set of tools that are very powerful, and it’s a set of tools and a certain kind of intelligence that pairs incredibly well with human creativity and just amplifies and accelerates everything you do.”
Big theatrical productions like Dune, Mission: Impossible and Star Wars are becoming increasingly rare in a world where streaming dominates.
“I love these big experiences, but they’ve gotten unsustainable,” Erwin said. “My argument and what I would say is my somewhat contrary point of view is that the primary reason for job loss and lack of green lights is the escalating cost of production, combined with the time of creation. So it takes a long time to create and things have gotten very expensive and if you combine those two things, there’s no green lights, there’s no jobs.
“So I actually see the integration of an AI tool set as an antidote to job loss.” . . .
Erwin and his team used generative AI tools to produce many of the show’s visuals, particularly scenes that would have been difficult, and costly, to produce with traditional VFX workflows. In season 1, he said, 73 AI-generated shots were used. By season 2, the number had grown to upwards of 350.
“By innovating instead of compromising, we made the first season of the show for less than a single episode of some of the larger shows on streaming. So the ROI was great for everyone and we made it way faster. And we also employed 600 people making the show. And those are real jobs.”
Erwin said generative AI is just the latest in a long line of technological tools filmmakers have relied on over the years. He gave a nod to Steven Spielberg, who made film history in the early 1990s when he combined CGI with practical effects on the original Jurassic Park movie.
“So this is simply a new set of tools,” Erwin said. “The interesting thing is the speed in which they’re emerging in the world and how many industries it’s disrupting at once. I still remember the digital camera revolution. I had to learn a different camera every 18, 24 months. But this, if you’re two weeks behind, you’re out. The fascinating thing about ‘House of David’ is that it will actually be this time capsule to show the implementation of the technology, season to season. . . .”
See Media Play News for more quotes from that event.
House of David is currently streaming on Prime Video. Season 1 is available globally, and Season 2 is currently available only on the Wonder Project channel in the US—but it will be made available globally at some point in the future, too.
Kevin Sorbo’s Noah movie gets a new trailer
The Flood: End of Mankind, a Noah movie starring Kevin Sorbo, has released its first trailer featuring Sorbo himself. (An earlier trailer came out before production on the film had even started.) You can watch the new trailer above.
The film is set to come out October 2.
David: King of Israel gets a release date
The four-part docuseries David: King of Israel now has a release date (or set of dates): it will come out on Fox Nation every Thursday between February 26 and March 19.
I’ll have more to say about the series later, hopefully.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows
February 26-March 19, 2026 — David: King of Israel (streaming: Fox Nation)
March 22-April 5, 2026 — The Faithful: Women of the Bible (streaming: Fox One)
April-May 2026 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
October 2, 2026 — The Flood: End of Mankind (theatrical)
second half of 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
sometime in 2026 — Daniel (theatrical: Unveil Studios)
sometime in 2026 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Season 6: Finale (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
March 26, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One (theatrical: Lionsgate)
May 6, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two (theatrical: Lionsgate)
sometime in 2027 — Joseph of Egypt (streaming: Prime Video)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — The Promised Land: Season 2 (streaming)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)