The sophomore season of the biblical drama “House of David” is currently rolling out, and the series’ co-creator Jon Gunn is “not afraid” to admit the new season is “significantly bigger and better” than the first.
“I think people are gonna love it,” Gunn added. It’s a bold claim from the executive producer and co-director of the series — but only because the first season was such a massive success.
More than 44 million viewers in 240 different countries watched “House of David” Season 1. And the series made its way into the top 10 most-watched shows on Prime Video, where it lived for several consecutive weeks.
The success of the series was “well beyond what we imagined,” Gunn said, “because you never know when you launch something, how people are going to receive it.”
He continued, “It was so encouraging and so exciting, because people were commenting and loving the show and all the ways that we hoped that they would ... it was an incredible boost for the cast and crew to see how people were receiving it.”
The series depicts the life and rise of King David of the Old Testament, from his beginnings as a shepherd boy to his battle with Goliath and his complicated relationship with King Saul.
At more than 44 million views, the series attracted an audience larger than traditionally forecast for biblical or faith-based media. But according to Gunn, “House of David” is created with the same ingredients as any other epic movie with a hero’s journey — and you don’t need to read the book to enjoy it.
“You don’t have to know the Bible or read the Bible for this to be entertaining,” Gunn said. “This is kind of the original hero’s journey story. ... It’s fun to watch. It’s a great, epic journey.”
He likened the series to “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars” and “Spider-Man,” which are all “stories of a young kid being plucked out of obscurity and and discovering he’s got a greater destiny,” he said.
“You don’t have to read Tolkien to love ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ but if you do read it, you enjoy it in a different way, in a more substantial way,” Gunn continued. “Either way, it’s a different experience, but it’s great, whether you read (the Bible) or not.”
Still, Gunn and the other showrunners behind the series feel a “great responsibility to honor the scriptural text” while trying to strike a balance of scriptural accuracy with elements of relatability and storytelling, he said.
Then they will also use their imaginations to fill some of the spaces that are left empty in scripture. This is a process they approach with “the best of intentions,” he said.
They work alongside biblical boards, scholars and consultants who will “challenge” their scripts in efforts to keep the show as accurate as possible.
“We will redirect and course correct based upon feedback (from experts),” Gunn said. “So we will make big changes, and usually those changes are compelling. ... Those changes are the things that bring specificity and uniqueness of the time period into the story we’re telling.”
The second season of the series starts off right where the first ended. Audiences will enjoy the larger size and scope of depth of the new episodes right from the get-go.
“We really wanted to deliver something at a larger scale,” Gunn said. “There’s lots of battle scenes in this season and lots of scope in this season. And also we dug deeper and deeper into the relationships.”
“This is a season of transformation. This is a season where the world of the Bronze Age is shifting to the Iron Age, and David is transforming from a shepherd to a warrior. And so those forging in fire, often hurts.
“There’s a lot of great drama that comes right out of the gate as David returns home a hero for slaying Goliath and is now put in command of 1,000 men.”
When does ‘House of David’ come out?
“House of David” debuted its first two of eight episodes on Sunday, Oct. 5. Subsequent episodes will premiere every Sunday through mid-November.
Below is the release schedule for remaining episodes of “House of David” Season 2.
- Episode 3: Sunday, Oct. 12
- Episode 4: Sunday, Oct. 19
- Episode 5: Sunday, Oct. 26
- Episode 6: Sunday, Nov. 2
- Episode 7: Sunday, Nov. 9
- Episode 8 (finale): Sunday, Nov. 16
‘House of David’ will stream on Wonder Project
The second season of “House of David” is available to stream through the Wonder Project extension via Prime Video.
Wonder Project is a new streaming platform from the faith-based film production company of the same name. A subscription to the platform is required to access “House of David” Season 2.
The platform is “uniquely curated” for Wonder Project’s audience, Gunn said.
In addition to “House of David,” the platform offers content from Wonder Project and films such as “Jesus Revolution,” “Lincoln,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Sound of Music,” “Rudy” and others.