Mofac Animation has found Jesus.
Oscar Isaac has signed on to portray Jesus Christ in The King of Kings, the animated family film being made by the South Korean-based animation house. At the same time, Forest Whitaker has been tapped to give voice to the apostle Peter.
The duo join a growing A-list voice cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, and Jojo Rabbit actor Roman Griffin Davis.
Seong-ho “Jay” Jang, known as a visual effects pioneer in Korea, is directing King of Kings while Anfernee Kim (Last Knights, John Woo’s The Crossing 2) is producing.
The faith-based feature is very loosely inspired by The Life of Our Lord, a little-known Charles Dickens short story that was published posthumously and that depicted the life and times of Jesus.
The script, by Jang and Rob Edwards (Disney’s The Princess and the Frog), sees Charles and Walter Dickens, voiced by Branagh and Davis, respectively, embarking on a multi-dimensional adventure as the master storyteller engages his youngest son’s vivid imagination with the fascinating life of Jesus, his well-known trials and tribulations, and his notable colleagues and foes.
The producers hope to have the Dickens duo, as well as the family cat named Willa, immersed in the ancient tale, interacting with Jesus, his disciples and his detractors in an effort to make the biblical journey easily relatable, readily understood and captivatingly entertaining for families and, especially, to children of all ages.
“A film capturing the epic life of Jesus Christ warrants a stellar cast, and our actors announced to date – Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman and Roman Griffin Davis – is impressive by any measure,” says producer Anfernee Kim. “Oscar perfectly captures the impactful delivery of Jesus, and Forest’s expertly embodies the complicated aspects of Peter.”
‘The King of Kings’
Courtesy of Mofac Animation
Emmy Award-winning dialogue and casting director Jamie Thomason (Spirited Away, The Tigger Movie) and veteran filmmaking executive Andrew Mann (Imperium, Gold, Transfusion) serve as executive producers
Mofac Animation is currently seeking potential distributors for The King of Kings.
Whitaker, who earned an Oscar for his performance in The Last King of Scotland, was recently seen in the Star Wars series Andor and the MGM+ series Godfather of Harlem. He is currently shooting the legal thriller Emperor of Ocean Park for MGM+. He is repped by WME, Linden Entertainment and Cohen & Garnder.
Isaac voiced Spider-Man Miguel O-Hara in the Oscar-nominated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a role he will reprise in the next year’s follow-up, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The actor is currently shooting Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein adaptation for Netflix. He is repped by WME and Goodman Genow.
