Great news came out during a meeting at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., where attendees gathered to hear that a new film, “JESUS” will be released in 2025. It will be animated and a reimagining of the original film by the same name, which came out in 1979 and led millions to Christ in the years and decades after its release, with this new version having the same goal.
The film, which will be based on the book of Luke and follow Christ’s life through that book of the Gospel, will apparently take about two years to complete and distribute, as it is currently slated to be released in theaters in 2025.
The team behind the new version of “JESUS” is affiliated with the Jesus Film Project, the same group behind the original “JESUS” film. That original version managed to become so popular that it was translated into 2,100 languages, and the new version has a “refreshed script” that is based around that original dialogue to make the translation process into 2000 languages somewhat easier.
Describing why it focuses on sharing the story of Jesus through film, the Jesus Film Project notes, “To hear a story is powerful. But to see it happen — and to hear Jesus speak in your language — is life-changing. That’s why Jesus Film Project chose video to introduce Jesus to the world.”
Continuing the explanation for why film tends to work better, it adds, “Film Brings the Story to Life in a Way That No Other Medium of Storytelling Can. The benefits of media evangelism are simple. When we see a story unfold on screen, it breaks barriers of communication and connects its views to the story in a way written and spoken word cannot.” That explainer also claims that its films have impacted hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Jesus Film Project Executive Director Josh Newell, speaking about the movie and how it is being made, said, “Jesus Film Project commissioned the animation within a studio called Premise Entertainment. It was our vision together to produce this movie based off the original, ‘JESUS’ film.”
Continuing, he explained why the new version of “JESUS” will be animated, saying, “I think what sets this film apart is that animation is a medium that today’s and tomorrow’s generation really resonate with. We wanted to tell the story of Jesus in creative and in new ways that people can hear about. And for some of them, it will be for their very first time. Animation will be unlike anything else that we’ve ever done.”
Then, explaining how the Jesus Film Project is using the revamped film to enter the digital space a bit more, Newell said, “We imagine being able to take the characters that we are making in this movie and put them into things like the metaverse or augmented and virtual reality. We haven’t even begun to imagine what the ministry use cases will be like.” He added, “We know that media will be consumed differently in the future, and we are using this film as a way to future-proof new digital strategy.”
Similarly, Producer Ray Aguerrevere said, “This film is going to be used in so many other ways than just the film, which is really what’s spectacular about the assets that we’re creating. We’re creating assets that will not only yield a beautiful film 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, experiences in the metaverse.”
Continuing, he added that there is immense potential for the physical assets to be repurposed online, saying, “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.”