Amazon is betting big on faith-based entertainment in a new production deal that is expected to produce a pipeline of movies and series aimed at Christian audiences.
On Wednesday, Amazon MGM Studios announced it is teaming up with the recently formed The Wonder Project, led by Jesus Revolution co-director Jon Erwin and former Netflix and YouTube executive Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten.
Under the deal, Amazon Prime Video has already ordered its first project — a series called House of David that will dramatize the rise to power of King David of Israel. No release date has been announced for the streaming series.
The Wonder Project is an indie studio founded last year to make “stories that restore faith in things worth believing in.” Among the studio’s backers is Jason Blum, Lionsgate, and United Talent Agency (UTA).
Amazon has experienced firsthand the popularity of Christian-themed entertainment.
The Chosen — the hit series dramatizing the life of Jesus — has been one of Prime Video’s most-streamed series in recent months.
Prime Video is also streaming Sound of Freedom, which has consistently ranked in the service’s top-ten most-viewed movies since its streaming debut last month.
Amazon MGM Studios‘ head of TV Vernon Sanders said in a statement. “We are very excited about the scope, scale and storytelling involved with House of David and look forward to sharing this epic and many others with our global Prime Video customers.”
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