The animated biblical musical David from Angel Studios opened to an estimated $22 million domestically over its debut weekend of December 19–21, 2025, outperforming The SpongeBob Movie: which opened to about $16 million in the same frame.
This made David the top-grossing family-oriented animated movie of that weekend, beating SpongeBob by exactly $6 million as reported by multiple sources, including Angel Studios’ official announcement, Box Office Mojo, and outlets like Variety, Deadline, and Animation Magazine.
David finished #2 overall behind Avatar: Fire and Ash’s massive $88–89 million debut, while SpongeBob landed at #4. It also set records as the highest-opening faith-based animated film ever. Great win for an underdog story—literally.
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The success of Angel Studios’ animated biblical musical David—opening to $22 million domestically and topping The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants ($16 million) as the #1 family/animated film of its debut weekend—carries several notable implications for the film industry, audiences, and cultural trends as of late December 2025.
Strong Demand for Faith-Based and Values-Driven Family Entertainment
David set records as the highest-opening faith-based animated film ever, surpassing Angel’s own The King of Kings, $19.4 million earlier in 2025 and classics like The Prince of Egypt.
This builds on Angel Studios’ track record like the Sound of Freedom, The Chosen, showing a reliable audience for uplifting, family-safe content—especially timed around holidays pre-Christmas here, pre-Easter for King of Kings.
Outlets note families seek alternatives to mainstream Hollywood fare perceived as increasingly explicit or morally ambiguous, with David’s themes of faith, courage, and traditional values resonating strongly.
With David and The King of Kings which grossed ~$61–80 million worldwide, Angel now claims two of the top 10 highest-grossing animated domestic releases of 2025. This marks their best theatrical opening ever around $22M > Sound of Freedom’s $19.6M and validates their crowd-funded, guild-driven model, 1.6M+ members greenlight projects.
It opens doors for more animated projects like the upcoming Animal Farm adaptation and positions Angel as a niche powerhouse challenging major studios in the family space. Search for SquarePants underperformed expectations despite strong reviews highest in franchise history and brand recognition, possibly due to franchise fatigue after 25+ years, oversaturation on streaming platforms like Paramount+, Netflix spin-offs, and direct competition from David for family audiences.
Many families opted for the wholesome biblical story over the absurdist comedy, highlighting a split in the family market: some prefer “safe” values-driven options during holidays.
Even against blockbuster competition, Avatar: Fire and Ash dominated with ~$88–89M, David secured #2 overall and proved grassroots marketing + targeted demographics can drive surprises. Potential for strong “legs” with extended run into the holiday season, similar to past faith hits, with staggered international releases starting soon.
It underscores polarization in entertainment: demand for “light-amplifying” stories is growing, potentially pressuring Hollywood to diversify beyond sequels and IP-heavy tentpoles, many film enthusiasts having to see light in faith based and family films which tends to have more run in the new year due to the current administration focusing on safety entertainment space for minors.
Overall, this is a clear win for independent, audience-funded faith content—proving there’s a substantial, underserved market hungry for family films that align with traditional/religious values, even in a crowded holiday corridor. If David holds well through Christmas and New Year’s, it could further accelerate this trend into 2026.