Christian children's movie 'David' beats out 'Spongebob' and Sydney Sweeney in box-office shock

A faith-based children's movie is making waves just before Christmas.

"David," an animated Christian musical about the story of David versus Goliath performed valiantly up against some monstrous titles over the weekend.

'David' is now the second-biggest blockbuster for Angel Studios, the studio that brought 'Sound of Freedom' to theaters.

In a field dominated by animated pictures, "David" managed to outperform both "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants" and "Zootopia 2."

Spice rack

While "Zootopia 2" took in just $14 million, that figure comes with a huge asterisk, as it has already been in theaters for a month with more than $1 billion taken in worldwide. However, "David" can relish the fact that it outperformed the beloved SpongeBob character as well as Sydney Sweeney's new movie "The Housemaid" on their opening weekends.

SpongeBob made $16 million, according BoxOffice Pro, while "The Housemaid" garnered a respectable $18.95 million. At the same time, "David" shocked the media with just over $22 million in its opening, according to Box Office Mojo.

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While SpongeBob has an established (but aging) fan base, controversy around the film came just ahead of the release when one of its voice actors, rapper Ice Spice — real name Isis Naija Gaston — attended the premiere in a revealing outfit.

The mostly transparent lingerie the rapper wore on the red carpet may have been a factor in parents' choice of which film was most suitable for their children.

Blue Christmas

"David" is now the second-biggest blockbuster for Angel Studios, the studio that brought "Sound of Freedom" to theaters. The movie about child trafficking went viral online in terms of publicity and took in more than $250 million worldwide. No other film on the studio's roster has made more than $21 million before "David."

None of these movies could touch the No.1 film of the weekend, though: James Cameron's "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third in the franchise. It took home a whopping $88 million, more than second through fourth place in the box office combined.

Two more "Avatar" films are set for release, in 2029 and 2031.

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Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

Wrung out

Also to be considered is the SpongeBob franchise's flailing numbers.

The first movie in 2004 had a promising opening weekend of $32 million, later drawing $142 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million, per the Numbers.

In 2015, the next film in the franchise took a $74 million budget and, despite making just $55 million in its opening weekend, ended up making over $300 million.

In 2020, though, "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run," with a $60 million budget, drew just $865,824, likely due to COVID-19 restrictions, and made just over $4.8 million at the end of the day.

Now, with an alleged $64 million budget, according to Variety, Paramount may have cause for worry, with double the budget producing half what original film did in 2004. Then again, the studio may have streaming numbers in mind, instead.