Produced in Cape Town, the joyful animated musical David has just dropped its official trailer, ahead of the film’s wide release in cinemas across South Africa and the US on Friday, 19 December 2025.

When the giant Goliath rises to terrorise a nation, a young shepherd steps forward, armed with only a sling, a few stones, and unshakable faith.

‘David is one of the most inspiring characters in human history: a warrior, poet, shepherd and king. If you need to find the courage to slay giants in your life, bring your family along to watch David this December.’

~ Phil Cunningham, Creator

A Star-Studded Cast

Grammy nominee Phil Wickham leads the cast as the adult David, with Brandon Engman and Young Artist Award winner Sloan Lucas Muldown reprising their roles from Young David. The cast also features two-time Grammy winner Lauren Daigle, award-winning Israeli singer Miri Mesika and two-time BAFTA nominee Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing, The Sandman).

All these talents lend their voices to a score composed by Joseph Trapanese (The Greatest Showman).

Watch the official trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv9V3dk98PM

Listen to the official soundtrack here: https://lnk.to/DavidSoundtrack

A Local Production with Global Reach

The teaser trailer has already racked up over four million views on YouTube, and the film has generated over $4.5m in pre-sales.

Watch the teaser trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyBHli_akQw

‘The making of our animated epic is a David vs. Goliath story in itself,’ says Brent Dawes (Jungle Beat: The Movie), who directed the film alongside Phil.

This ambitious journey started over 20 years ago when Phil wrote and executive produced the award-winning The Legend of the Sky Kingdom, Africa’s first animated feature film made entirely from junk. In the two decades since, he has transformed Sunrise Animation Studios into a powerhouse, with nearly seven billion views for its Jungle Beat YouTube channel alone.

Sunrise animated David largely from their studio in Noordhoek, Cape Town, hiring over 400 local and international crew members. Legendary Pixar story artist Nathan Stanton (Brave, Finding Dory) served as assistant director, while the animation director was Dan Barker, a South African now based in the US, with credits on Oscar-winning films like Big Hero 6.

Other South African residents in key roles included executive producer Jacqui Cunningham, producers Tim Keller and Rita Mbanga, co-writer Sam Wilson, and production designer Lynton Levengood.

Breaking Records and Boundaries

The ultimate underdog story, David is being distributed in the US by Angel Studios. Their previous animation, The King of Kings, had the biggest opening weekend in the US of any biblical animation ever, surpassing the Oscar-winning The Prince of Egypt.

Angel has reinvented film funding by empowering everyday fans—the Angel Guild—to greenlight the development and distribution of the movies they want to see. The Angel Guild’s scores for David were the highest ever recorded, while its pre-sales set a new record for the studio.

Angel is also running a crowdfunded campaign to get one million children to watch David for free. You can join the campaign by sponsoring a ticket for a South African child here.

‘I’m not sure there’s been a faith-friendly film this beautiful, this high production value ever.’

~ Neal Harmon, Co-founder and CEO of Angel Studios

Get Involved

For families looking for holiday activities, you can download free colouring-in pictures here.

To secure your seats for this epic adventure, book soon via Ster-Kinekor or Nu Metro.

For more information, visit the official website.

Southern African Cinema Lineup

Empire Entertainment is distributing David in Southern Africa. It will screen at the following cinemas from Friday, 19 December 2025.

Cape Town

  • Blue Route (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Canal Walk (Nu Metro)
  • Cape Gate (Ster-Kinekor)
  • N1 City (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Somerset (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Tyger Valley (Ster-Kinekor)
  • V&A Waterfront (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Westgate (Nu Metro)

Gauteng

  • Carnival City (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Clearwater Mall (Nu Metro)
  • Cradlestone (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Cresta (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Eastgate (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Fourways (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Hyde Park (Nu Metro)
  • Irene Mall (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Menlyn Park (Nu Metro)
  • Montecasino (Movies@Montecasino)
  • Sandton (Ster-Kinekor)
  • The Glen (Nu Metro)
  • The Grove Mall (Ster-Kinekor)
  • The Zone Rosebank (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Wonderpark (Ster-Kinekor)

Garden Route

  • Garden Route Mall (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Road House Cinema at Whale Coast (Hermanus)

Gqeberha

  • Baywest (Ster-Kinekor)

KZN

  • Ballito (Nu Metro)
  • Midlands (CineCentre)
  • Shelly Beach (Ster-Kinekor)
  • Suncoast (CineCentre)
  • The Pavilion (Nu Metro)

East Africa

  • Century Pictures cinemas in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

Namibia

  • Atlanta (Swakopmund)
  • The Grove Mall Namibia (Ster-Kinekor)

Zimbabwe

  • Road House at Sam Levy

For more articles, go here.