Animated Film 'The King of Kings' Provides Different Look at the Life of Jesus

With so many Bible-themed film projects making a splash this spring (think The Chosen, House of David, The Last Supper), it seems that yet another production highlighting the life of Jesus might get lost in the cinematic shuffle.

Yet, a new production from Angel Studios releasing this Friday, is positioning itself to glorify ‘the greatest story ever told’ but with a twist. The King of Kings originates from a Charles Dickens book, The Life of Our Lord, written by Dickens in the mid-1800s for his children but not published until 1934, 64 years after the prolific author’s death.

Featuring a star-studded cast that includes the voices of Pierce Brosnan, Oscar Isaac, Uma Thurman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, and Mark Hamill, The King of Kings tells the story of Jesus Christ as shared by Charles Dickens and seen through the innocent eyes of a child. 

It is the first animated feature film from the studio that brought us Sound of Freedom, Sight, and most recently, Bonhoeffer.

Written and directed by South Korean visual effects expert Seong-ho Jang, The King of Kings marks his directorial debut. As a professing Christian, it is Jang's desire to share the message of Jesus to a global audience, one that is becoming more secular by the day.

I recently sat down with Jang to discuss what compelled him to re-introduce one of Dickens’ lesser known works, why he chose a movie about the life of Jesus to be his first as a director, and how a single word sums up The King of Kings for him.

As a director, there always seems to be a moment where you say to yourself, “I have to make this movie!” For The King of Kings what was that moment for you?

I'm a big fan of film and also of animation. And I wanted to make animation the whole time. And during the process, I was able to come across the book by Charles Dickens which is called Life of Our Lord. So, after I read that I thought it would be a very unique story as an animated feature, to produce an animated movie about the life of Jesus from the perspective of Charles Dickens.

Before we jump into some of the bells and whistles in the film, let me ask you about the story which is the “greatest story ever told”.  There have been a lot of cinematic productions on the life of Jesus. What sets The King of Kings apart from the others? Interestingly, you weave a parallel story funneled through Charles Dickens and the innocent eyes of a child.

There are a lot of films that tell the story of Jesus Christ. And I wanted to do it through the animation because I thought that if it is animated this heavy story will be appealing to a wider range of audiences. It is released not just in the United States, but also worldwide. So, I wanted audiences in each country to watch and embrace this film without too many difficulties or obstacles. There is a conventional way for an animation film to tell the story to the audiences. But if it is too much about just animation, I thought it would be liked by only a few. So, what I wanted to do was I wanted to produce animation, but at the same time, I wanted the audience to feel the cinematic experience through this.

How do you balance being true to scripture with taking creative license to make the story onscreen flow better?

When I first started the film, I thought if I have to use just one word regarding what the Bible is about, it is about love. So, that was the very beginning concept of the entire production. With that concept, I have selected a few events that happened that are described in the Bible. And at the same time, when I selected those particular events, I also had to consider the entertainment aspects that such events can deliver when producing the film.

The King of Kings has an amazing cast to say the least. Pierce Brosnan (Pontius Pilate), Oscar Isaac (Jesus), Uma Thurman (Catherine Dickens), Kenneth Branagh (Charles Dickens), Mark Hamill (King Herod), Sir Ben Kingsley (Caiaphas), Forest Whitaker (Peter), on and on it goes. How were you able to attract such incredible talent to this project?

I wanted this film to be watched by a lot of people. To do that, I thought it was essential that I have to have a great cast. I was lucky enough to meet up with Jamie Thomason, who worked at Disney for a long time as a casting director and voice director. After meeting him, I explained to him what I wanted, and he did a more than remarkable job contacting all those actors and asking them to participate in this film. It's one of the miracles that happened in producing this movie.

Do you have a moment or a scene in The King of Kings that you find to be the most meaningful on a personal level?

All the scenes were very tough and very challenging to produce, but especially near the end, there's a scene where Walter (main character) understands and accepts Jesus’ sacrifice and understands what it is. It was really challenging and personally it was very meaningful to produce the portion where, at the end he understands what Jesus’ message was and is.

What is one thing about Jesus that you never knew before but learned while working on this film?

Since I was writing the script, I had this concern that after it is produced, if it is released worldwide, there will be a lot of people watching it. And there may be some comments about the errors that the script may have in terms of the religion. So I really tried not to make those kinds of errors by consulting a lot of people, but also by talking with a lot of professionals in the industry. After having finished all that, I feel like Jesus is a very comfortable, close friend. 

After people have had a chance to see The King of Kings what would you like your audience to take away from that viewing experience?  What is your greatest hope for the film?

I studied for this film thinking that love is the main word for the entire Bible. So, I wanted the audience to feel why Jesus sacrificed His life and the reason for His love towards us. I want them to feel that after they watch this movie.

The King of Kings opens in theaters nationwide this Friday.

WATCH A TRAILER FOR THE KING OF KINGS: