Faith-Friendly ‘Pendragon Cycle’ Shocks Hollywood
Jeremy Boreing's Christian fantasy saga scores big on Prime Video
“Conservative” art remains in shockingly short supply.
For every project like “What Is a Woman?” or “Police State,” there are hundreds of stories told from a left-leaning perspective.
This Fall, we’ll see more of the latter. Maybe much more.
Meanwhile, an unabashedly faith-friendly project is making major waves on streaming.
“The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin” debuted earlier this year on DailyWire+, earning positive reviews in the process. The saga explores the Arthurian legend coinciding with the rise of Christianity.
It looked and sounded like a mainstream fantasy yarn, with strong production values, impressive effects and sturdy performances.
The recent Leo Awards honored Colin Cunningham, who plays King Vortigern in the series, with its Best Lead Performance in a Dramatic Series honors. Most faith-friendly or right-leaning projects are shut out from awards consideration.
You still had to subscribe to DailyWire+ to experience the seven-part series, adapted from Stephen R. Lawhead’s novels. Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing co-created, co-directed, and executive produced the saga, the ultimate passion project.
The series escaped the Daily Wire paywall a few weeks back, earning serious traction outside the U.S. – think Canada, Ireland, Spain, Poland and the UK.
The show soared to the top spot for those nations’ “Fantasy” TV rankings.
On Sept. 1, Prime Video began streaming the saga stateside, cementing its recent success. “Pendragon Cycle” hit as high as the second overall spot on Prime Video’s show rankings. It’s currently sitting in the fourth slot nine days after its debut.
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Boreing, for one, isn’t surprised.
“The audience for conservative filmmaking was never in doubt. People have always wanted stories about great ideas. Inheritance, memory, fidelity. Those are among the oldest subjects in drama, and they happen to be among the deepest conservative concerns. What Pendragon proved is how badly that hunger was being ignored,” Boreing said in an exclusive HiT note.
“Pendragon’s” success raises some key questions. Will we see a second season? Might alternative platforms consider similar projects – smart, faith-driven stories that speak to an underserved audience?
The Blaze has dabbled in original projects, along with The Daily Wire and Wall Street Journal’s Opinion section.
Boreing Media already had plans to bring more original stories to the public. Could a new “Pendragon” series become part of those plans?