Tim Tebow’s prior roles as NFL quarterback and MLB outfielding prospect may not have quite panned out the way he had wanted them to.
His role as an executive producer? In sports ball terms, he’s batting a thousand while winning the Super Bowl.
The 35-year-old College Football Hall of Famer has certainly had a winding career since hanging up his cleats in Gainesville, Florida, with plenty of meaningful success despite what his harshest critics like to harp on.
His latest success has come in the theatrical world (again) as Tebow is officially the executive producer of a record-setting film.
The film, “David,” based on the Biblical figure (the same David of “and Goliath” yore) is being distributed by Angel Studios. The studio, alongside Tebow, announced this week that “David” had set an all-time record in audience investment in a film production. It was a record previously held by the Biblical streaming series “The Chosen.”
You can see the entire announcement video below for yourself:
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“So I heard a rumor that we are the number one crowdfunded movie of all time,” Tebow said during the stream. “That’s crazy! That is so awesome. I’m so grateful to be a part of it.”
According to the movie’s own website, the film has raised $49.9 million as of this writing. The goal is approximately $61 million.
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In particular, the former Heisman winner was excited about the potential reach that this animated film could have — and what it could mean for all those people.
“I am just so grateful so many people are coming together to tell the story of David, that I think will bring faith, hope and love to so many people,” Tebow continued. “And ultimately, that’s the goal.”
Below is another trailer for the movie, but spoiler alert: It looks good!
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You can see why Tebow would want his name attached to this project and just how nicely the movie appears to be coming along so far.
Of note, if the whole style and vibe of the animation sort of reminds you of an animated Disney movie, that’s intentional. Looking at the studio’s site, you can see that its production team has worked on almost exclusively Disney movies in the past (Lord of the Rings squeaks onto that list). The movie also directly references “Moana” and “Tangled” as inspirations for “quality and entertainment value” on its Facebook page:
But unlike those two movies, “David” isn’t backed by Mickey Mouse’s blank checks. This is a much smaller venture and one where you can see why the movie’s producers sought crowdfunding to help accomplish its lofty goals.
What is the movie’s goal?
“Create the most influential biblical animated movie since DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt. With a God-sized vision and a ‘slingshot strategy’, we believe that DAVID can become the most-watched animated film of all time,” the movie’s site plainly states.
Its purpose: “Share this moving biblical story with a global audience, especially those outside of the religious sphere.”
With a goal and purpose like that, it’s little surprise that an audience is paying so they can pay again to see this movie in theaters.
Given all of that, and the prior stated success of “The Chosen,” it all does beg the question: Why isn’t Hollywood tapping into this rich vein when there’s so clearly an appetite for quality Biblical tales to get good silver screen adaptations?
That appetite was so clearly there when “The Passion of the Christ” was dominating the box offices in 2004, and it’s so evidently here in 2023.
With the growing apathy in the still-dominant superhero movie genre, Tebow and Sunrise Studios could have a genuine chance to strike gold here with families who want to go to the movies and not be bombarded with CGI and one-liners.
“David” currently has an expected release year of 2025.
