Hollywood executives are accustomed to achieving big box-office results from family-friendly animated films.
The global animation market has hauled in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Additionally, animated films have become a major portion of the total movie box office, with several films securing billion-dollar grosses.
Included among the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time are the following animated features: Ne Zha 2, Inside Out 2, The Lion King, Frozen 2, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Incredibles 2, Minions, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 4, Moana 2, and Despicable Me 3.
It’s a simple truth that animated films pay the Hollywood bills. These movies have a 30% higher profit margin than nonanimated movies, mainly due to lower production costs.
The entertainment business community is once again having to come to terms with the massive appeal and box-office success of faith-based films. The King of Kings, the biblical movie in animated form, has been a blessed bonus.
The King of Kings has not only brought in significant grosses in its second weekend, it is also enjoying an unprecedented 10% drop in revenue from its debut weekend, which is minuscule in comparison to the customary drop of 35% or more during the second-week releases.
The King of Kings took in more than $17.2 million during the film’s second weekend. The movie is appearing in over 3,500 theaters across the country. As of this writing, its total domestic take is well over $47 million.
It also set a record for the biggest opening for a faith-based animated film when it hit $19.3 million in its debut weekend.
Audiences who have seen The King of Kings are loving it. The movie has achieved the highest score, an A+ from CinemaScore (the company that measures moviegoers’ satisfaction).
The film has also earned an enviable 98% “fresh” score on the Rotten Tomatoes site’s Popcornmeter, while the aggregated critics rated The King of Kings 65% “fresh.”
Angel Studios co-founder Jordan Harmon told Variety, “This movie is really The Passion for kids.” The faith-film mogul also shared that at early screenings children were walking out of the theater in tears.
Directed by Seong-ho Jang, The King of Kings boasts a roster of well-known veteran actors who are featured in its voice-over cast, including Pierce Brosnan as Pontius Pilate, Mark Hamill as King Herod, Forest Whitaker as Peter, Ben Kingsley as High Priest Caiaphas, Kenneth Branagh as Charles Dickens, Uma Thurman as Catherine Dickens, Roman Griffin Davis as Walter Dickens, and Oscar Isaac as Jesus.
A South Korean production, Angel Studios acquired the North American rights to the film in November 2024.
The plot of the movie is based on the children's book The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens.
It begins with Dickens himself attempting to recite his classic, A Christmas Carol, to a theater audience. The author’s performance is interrupted by his son Walter, who is backstage, acting out the exploits of King Arthur.
Following his wife’s suggestion, Dickens tries to distract his son from an obsession with the Knights of the Round Table by telling him of the greatest story ever told, the real-life drama of a king even greater than Arthur, Jesus Christ.
Walter just doesn’t believe that anyone could be the King of Kings, but he reluctantly agrees to listen to his father as long as he can stop the storytelling should he get bored.
As Walter listens, he becomes more and more intrigued with the life of Jesus. He begins to vividly imagine that he is actually in the story, and he ends up feeling as though he is present with Jesus and the disciples, witnessing the events in the life of Christ that include the Nativity, the Miracles, the Passion, and the Resurrection.
Like the disciples, the more Walter learns about Jesus, the more he loves Him.
The movie deals with this monumental story in a truly unique manner. The narrative device of Charles Dickens relaying a story to his son Walter (as was used in the beloved author’s original work) conveys both an intimacy and a nearness in proximity to the unfolding events.
Audiences experience the story through Walter’s innocent eyes and are led themselves to ponder, and/or re-ponder, the meaning of the life, passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Like many others, I can attest that Easter miracles are still in the making.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.