The K -animation ‘The King of Kings’, produced by a domestic production team and with domestic capital, has taken over North American theaters and achieved ‘surprise box office success’.It showed ‘momentum’ by maintaining the top ranks of the box office, beating out strong Hollywood films during the Easter holiday season when audiences flock to the theaters.

‘The Life of Jesus’ is an adaptation of ‘The Life of Our Lord’, written by the great British author Charles Dickens for his children, and is a 3D animation produced by Jang Seong-ho, CEO of Mopac Studio, a domestic VFX(visual special effects)company, together with cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung.

According to Box Office Mojo on the 21st, ‘The Life of Jesus’ recorded $17,273,869(KRW 24.6 billion)in ticket sales over the past weekend(18th-20th), which includes Easter(20th), one of the biggest holidays in North America, ranking 3rd at the box office, following the new horror film ‘Sinners’ and the entertainment blockbuster ‘Minecraft Movie’ with a huge fandom.It also beat out ‘The Amateur’ starring Rami Malek, who won the Oscar for Best Actor, and the war action film ‘Warfare’.

‘The Life of Jesus’ made a surprise box office debut in second place on the 11th, earning $19.05 million(27 billion won)in its first week alone, beating out ‘The Prince of Egypt’ (1998), produced by major Hollywood studio DreamWorks, and recording the highest opening score for a religious animated film of all time.

The film did not stop at being a ‘flash hit’ in its first week, but maintained its top ranking until the Easter holidays, recording sales of $45,339,117(KRW 64.6 billion)as of the 20th, earning a profit that was twice its production cost(KRW 36 billion).

It is not only a box office hit, but also garnering favorable reviews from the audience.On the global rating platform Rotten Tomatoes, it has a ‘Popcorn Index’ (audience rating)of 98%, and on the American market research firm CinemaScore, it received A +.There have only been about 120 films that received A + since 1979.Among Disney and Pixar Studio animations, there have only been five that received A +.

Brandon Purdy of Angel Studios, which is handling the North American distribution of ‘The Life of Jesus,’ told local media outlet Deadline, “In Charles Dickens’s family, there was a tradition of sharing the story with his family, and we hope that through the film, it will become a tradition that families around the world can share together every Easter.”


Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.