Last year, Angel Studios — home of the sleeper hit Sound of Freedom — predicted to theater owners at CinemaCon that its upcoming film David would be the highest grossing animated movie of all time while announcing the title as a splashy 2025 Thanksgiving release. The Utah-based firm, which has eschewed the Hollywood system and prides itself on catering to faith-based and conservative consumers, announced months later that it reached a deal to become a publicly listed entity.
Since then, Angel has been clashing with Slingshot, the production company behind David, over its rights as the film’s distributor. In November, Slingshot terminated its deal with Angel, which responded that it didn’t breach the agreement and has been sued in a lawsuit seeking a court order that it no longer retains the rights to the movie.
Slingshot alleged that Angel vastly overstepped its authority by excluding it from decisions related to international distribution, merchandising and marketing, making it appear as if David is an in-house production. And as part of a bid to herd support from shareholders to vote in favor of a purchase by a special-purpose acquisition company, better known as an SPAC, Angel propped up its fledgling streaming service by placing episodes of a related TV series, Young David, behind a paywall despite an agreement that the content would be available for free, the lawsuit said.
“Rather than aid Slingshot in developing the Content and help it reach wide audiences, and consistent with its longstanding pattern of breaching its distribution agreements with faith-based producers, Angel instead attempted a hostile takeover,” stated the complaint, filed on March 5 in Utah state court.
Over the course of the back-and-forth, Angel has maintained that its deal with Slingshot, which declined to comment, only requires mutual approval for “high-level decisions.” The company was formed after its predecessor, VidAngel, reorganized in bankruptcy following a $62 million judgment against it for distributing unlicensed content that censored graphic violence, nudity and profanity in films and TV shows. During those proceedings, chief executive Neal Harmon crowdfunded millions of dollars to produce original content, which includes The Chosen, Tuttle Twins and Dry Bar Comedy. An arbitrator last year awarded the producer of The Chosen more than $5 million, finding that Angel breached its licensing agreement with the company by diverting funds meant to be spent on the second season of the series toward its own operations, according to a person familiar with the situation.
In a statement, Harmon said, “We love the David project, and we’re certain this will get worked out.”
David is set to hit theaters in November. According to a logline from Angel, the movie is a “joyful animated musical about the life of the ancient prophet, poet and king. After one young shepherd boy is chosen to battle a giant, this chosen one goes on to inspire an entire nation of believers.”
Angel approached Slingshot in 2021 about securing the distribution rights to David, which required an additional $42 million to complete, the lawsuit said. The two sides quickly reached a deal, which said that Slingshot retains the flexibility to “drive commercial opportunities without restriction” and required Angel to notify its partner of “any and all marketing, distribution, and/or network opportunities,” on an exclusive license, according to the complaint. It allegedly provided both sides termination rights.
Around this time, Slingshot partnered with another company to create the animated series Young David, with the aim of promoting the film it’s based off of. It took issue with Angel unilaterally deciding to place two episodes of the show behind a paywall, limiting the show’s viewership. It underperformed relative to expectations, according to the complaint.
“As time went on, it became clear that Angel’s true objective was to use the Content for its own benefit without regard to Slingshot,” wrote Erik Christiansen, a lawyer for Slingshot, in the lawsuit. “At the same time it was refusing to attribute the Content to Slingshot, Angel selfishly used the Content to advertise its own streaming platform and subscription service — rather than the Content itself — in direct contravention of its contractual obligation to maximize” potential revenue.
The Utah-based company, run by three Mormon brothers, mostly crowdsources its projects and employs a unique “pay it forward” model for its streaming service that allows fans to view content for free and voluntarily contribute to help fund the production in exchange for certain perks. In September, it announced plans to be acquired by Southport Acquisition Corp. in a deal that would publicly list the company. The deal is contingent on shareholder approval.
In the lawsuit, Slingshot said the partnership worsened in 2024 when it learned that it was cut out of social media partnerships for the series. It reminded Angel to share such deals to ensure that they align with its brand, to which the Harmon-led company replied that “vendors are proprietary,” the lawsuit claimed. Angel’s alleged refusal to inform Slingshot of third party agreements extended to merchandising deals under its position that approval rights are limited to “input on how we execute those rights.”
“Even worse, this was not an isolated incident,” Christiansen wrote. “Angel later did the same thing in response to Slingshot’s request for information about unauthorized, and substandard, dubbing services Angel employed for Young David.”
In the following months, Angel continued to breach the deal by removing Slingshot’s logo from advertisements and social media posts related to David, the lawsuit alleged, creating the false impression that the film was produced only by the Utah-based company. It claimed it later learned that Angel signed agreements to secure distributors for David in international markets, including Brazil, West Africa and the UK, without authorization.
Slingshot terminated its distribution deal with Angel, which responded that it didn’t breach the agreement. Depending on how the court rules in the lawsuit, Angel may be forced to forgo plans to release David later this year.
The lawsuit advanced claims for breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, unfair competition, and copyright infringement, among others. It seeks unspecified damages, as well as a court order declaring that Slingshot properly terminated its deal with Angel.