The King of Kings (2025 film)

Plot

Charles Dickens attempts to recite A Christmas Carol to a London theatre audience but is interrupted by his son Walter, who enacts King Arthur backstage with his cat, Willa. Dickens considers punishing the boy, but his wife Catherine suggests he tell Walter about a greater king: Jesus Christ. Walter agrees to listen on condition he can stop if bored. As the tale unfolds, Walter becomes emotionally involved and demands his father finish, despite warnings it becomes upsetting.

Walter imagines himself and Willa traveling with Jesus and the disciples, witnessing the Nativity, Ministry, Miracles, and Passion. Dickens explains Jesus' sacrifice through the story of Adam and Eve and original sin, but Walter struggles to accept such an unjust death. Deeply saddened, Walter finds himself sinking underwater like Peter attempting to walk on water. He calls for help and is rescued by Jesus, who disappears, leaving an empty cross.

Returning to dry land, Walter contemplates the cross and feels redemption and gratitude as he understands Jesus' love. Finally, he finds the empty tomb, where the resurrected Jesus bids him a silent goodbye.

Overjoyed, Walter runs to tell his siblings, inspiring Dickens to write down the life of Jesus. The film closes with words from the Gospel of John: 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'

Production

An animated film loosely inspired by Charles Dickens’ The Life of Our Lord was announced in September 2024. Its voice cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Roman Griffin Davis, Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Pierce Brosnan, Mark Hamill, and Ben Kingsley. In March 2025, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor, Jim Cummings, Fred Tatasciore, and Vanessa Marshall were also announced as cast members via social media.

Though a South Korean production, visual effects were handled by Animost Studio in Vietnam, post-production at SunJive Studios in Adelaide, and additional animation by Lightbox Animation Studios in Spain. The voice actors are American and British. The budget before marketing was ₩36 billion, roughly $25.2 million at the time of production.

Reception

The King of Kings earned $60.3 million domestically and $23.2 million internationally, bringing its global total to $83.5 million. Over its opening weekend, the film pulled in $19.4 million from 3,200 theaters, landing in second place behind A Minecraft Movie. That debut set a new record for the best opening weekend ever for an animated biblical film, surpassing The Prince of Egypt’s $14 million from 1998; Angel Studios’ David later broke that mark eight months later with $22 million.

During its second weekend, which fell on Good Friday and Easter, the movie earned $17.6 million—a drop of only 9%—and finished third behind Sinners and A Minecraft Movie. By the end of April, it had overtaken Parasite to become the highest-grossing Korean film in North America. Audience polling from CinemaScore gave it a rare average grade of A+, and PostTrak reported a 94% positive score, with 83% of viewers saying they would definitely recommend it.