After 45 years, the producers of the famous 1979 Jesus movie have revealed plans for a new animated film titled “JESUS”, set to be released in 2025.
In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, they revealed that the new movie is coming 45 years after the original ‘Jesus’ film, which holds a Guinness World Record as the most translated film ever.
“JESUS” (2025) is a new, animated family film about the life of Jesus designed to reach families, new generations, and people of all ages with the story of Jesus Christ.
Anchored in the Christian gospels, the film re-imagines the JESUS film, using much of its dialogue in a refreshed script.
The film, which also adopts advanced visuals and computer graphics, will be released on 25 December 2025
Speaking about the movie, slated for release in theatres for Christmas 2025, the executive director, Josh Newell, said that the film promises to bring Jesus’s story to life based on the book of Luke in a new and transformative way.
He said, “Jesus Film Project commissioned the animation in a Premise Entertainment studio. Our vision was to produce this movie based on the original ‘JESUS’ film.”
The film is in the unfinished stages of production and is being crafted by a team affiliated with the Jesus Film Project. This CRU ministry has shared the original “JESUS” film with people across the globe.
New addition
The original film has been translated into 2,100 languages, including Nigerian native dialects.
The new film also promises the same dialogue in a “refreshed script” to make the movie available in 2,000 languages.
Describing what sets the new animation apart from the original, Mr Newell said the new film would be more than just a movie.
He said, “What sets this film apart is that animation is a medium that resonates with today’s and tomorrow’s generations. We wanted to tell the story of Jesus creatively and in new ways that people can hear about. For some of them, it will be their very first time. Animation will be unlike anything else that we’ve ever done.
“We imagine being able to take the characters we are making in this movie and put them into things like the metaverse or augmented and virtual reality. We have yet to begin to imagine what the ministry use cases will be like. We know that media will be consumed differently in the future, and we are using this film to future-proof new digital strategy.”
Mr Newell said an animated film about Jesus has yet to be created in the way the new movie will be captured. He said the film will be translated into over 2,000 dialects to spread the Gospel globally.
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Also, the movie producer, Ray Aguerrevere, said that animation is one of the most powerful mediums to tell a story, adding that the new film will be an immersive experience.
He said, “This film will be used in so many other ways than just the film, which is spectacular about the assets we’re creating. We’re creating assets that will yield a beautiful movie that can be used for years and decades to come, but we will also have those assets then be used to create immersive experiences like AR, VR, and experiences in the metaverse.
“These assets, these sets, the locations, the characters, the props, all of those things will be able to be repurposed and used to create immersive experiences for the audience to also take in the content in a unique way above and beyond what they’ll see in the film.”
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