Newsbites: The King of Kings! Judas' Gospel! Light of the World!
Jang Seong-ho's animated Jesus movie rises up the charts in its native South Korea; an Italian filmmaker asks if Judas had free will; and another animated Jesus movie releases a new clip.
The King of Kings passes new box-office milestones in South Korea
Audiences are still flocking to The King of Kings in its native South Korea.
The last time we checked in on the film, which opened in South Korean theatres July 16, it had sold 500,000 tickets in its first ten days. Since then…
It reached 700,000 admissions on its 12th day (Sunday, July 27).
It reached 800,000 admissions on its 14th day (Tuesday, July 29).
And it reached 900,000 admissions on its 17th day (Friday, August 1).
The King of Kings is currently the 20th-highest-grossing film in South Korea this year, and it will soon pass Japan’s Attack on Titan the Movie: The Last Attack (939,158 admissions) to become the top-grossing animated film in South Korea this year (at least until Disney’s Zootopia 2 comes out; the first film was a huge hit there in 2016).
The King of Kings is also now one of the top five South Korean animated movies ever within its home country, behind:
Pororo, The Racing Adventure — 2013 — 931,953 admissions
The Dino king: Speckles the Tarbosaurus 3D — 2012 — 1.05 million admissions
Heartsping: Teenieping of Love — 2024 — 1.23 million admissions
Leafie, A Hen into the Wild — 2011 — 2.2 million admissions
The King of Kings will pass at least one of those films in the very near future—probably this weekend—and at the rate it’s going it could easily pass at least one more.
Beyond that? We shall see.
The King of Kings has grossed at least $74.7 million worldwide so far.
Most of that has come from North America, where the film set records last April by becoming the top “faith-based” film since 2018, the top Bible movie since 2014, and the top South Korean movie ever, domestically.
According to Box Office Mojo, the film’s biggest markets after the US/Canada ($60.3 million) and South Korea ($6.1 million and counting) are Brazil ($1.5 million), Australia ($1.016 million), and the UK ($1.015 million).
The film is currently streaming on the Angel Studios platform (in some countries, at least). The English version of the film comes to DVD and Blu-ray August 26.
Judas’ Gospel to explore whether Judas had free will
There are now just nine days to go until Judas’ Gospel gets its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival. I assume we’ll be seeing more reviews and interviews then, but in the meantime, I want to highlight this interview with director Giulio Base that appeared on an Italian website about a month ago.
I don’t speak the language, and Google’s translation is… not the best. But what comes through is that Base was inspired to make the film by questions of free will, and whether Judas even had a choice when it came to betraying Jesus.
This is the original Italian quote:
In Judas' Gospel le esprime il senso della versione di Giuda. Due uomini, l’uno necessario all’altro affinché la storia si compia: Gesù e Giuda. Giuda che è divenuto il simbolo del tradimento. Judas' Gospel è uno dei film di questo 2025 che più incuriosisce, da cosa nasce l’idea della Versione di Giuda?
Difficile dire il momento esatto in cui mi è nata l'idea perché me la porto dietro da decenni, forse da quando ho cominciato a ragionare, sin da quando ho cominciato a interrogarmi, ma parlo proprio dell’adolescenza. Da ragazzo mi domandavo cosa volesse dire essere al mondo e dover compiere degli atti giusti o ingiusti, quando invece la Bibbia dice che è tutto deciso, che tutto è già scritto. Quindi mi ponevo domande sul libero arbitrio, mi scervellavo sulle mille volte al giorno che ero fallimentare sia nel mio percorso di fede, sia nel mio percorso di essere umano e in tutti quelle mancanze mi domandavo il perché, se tutto è già scritto, non potesse essere scritto ‘meglio’. E questo senso dell'essere imperfetto, dell’essere sbagliato, mi ha portato a pensare a Giuda che aveva compiuto una delle imperfezioni più grandi, più terribili, ma anche lui: che colpa ne aveva se tutto è già deciso?
And this is how Google Translate renders it:
In Judas' Gospel, she expresses the meaning of Judas's version. Two men, one necessary for each other to make history: Jesus and Judas. Judas who became the symbol of betrayal. Judas’ Gospel is one of the films of this 2025 that is most curious, from what comes the idea of the Judas Version?
It is difficult to say the exact moment when I was born the idea because I have been carrying it for decades, perhaps since I began to think, since I began to question myself, but I speak of adolescence. As a boy I wondered what it meant to be to the world and to perform just or unjust acts, when instead the Bible says that everything is decided, that everything is already written. So I asked myself questions about free will, I was racking on a thousand times a day that I was infancy both in my path of faith and in my path of being human and in all those shortcomings I asked myself why, if everything is already written, it could not be written ‘better’. And this sense of being imperfect, of being wrong, led me to think of Judas who had made one of the greatest imperfections, more terrible, but also he: what was his fault if everything was already decided?
Free will, of course, is a subject that Christians have been debating for pretty much forever, and there are specific verses that are sometimes cited as evidence that Judas in particular didn’t really choose to betray Jesus but was predestined to do so (e.g. John 17:12). Time will tell what this film contributes to that discussion.
Judas’ Gospel premieres at Locarno on August 11, and it will reportedly play in Mexico three days later. I do not know yet if it has a release date in any other country.
Light of the World releases a new 30-second clip
The makers of Light of the World, an animated Jesus movie coming to theatres September 5, have released a new 30-second clip from the film. In it, a boy—the future apostle John—asks his mother if the Messiah is real.
You can watch the clip above.
Previous videos for Light of the World:
The ‘The Heart of Light of the World’ video (October 26, 2024)
The teaser (November 12, 2024)
The clip of Mary talking to John about Jesus’ birth (December 20, 2024)
The children’s-ministry curriculum video (February 10, 2025)
The ‘What Is Truth?’ clip and the ‘Launch Team Introduction’ video (March 26, 2025)
The trailer (April 10, 2025)
The ‘Jesus Heals Mary Magdalene’ clip (May 21, 2025)
The Shane & Shane music video (May 30, 2025)
The ‘The Disciples Meet’ clip and the 60-second trailer (June 16, 2025)
The ‘Designing Jesus for Light of the World’ video (July 18, 2025)
More information about Light of the World is available at LightoftheWorld.com.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
now-August 4, 2025 — The Lumo Project: Acts of the Apostles (streaming: YouTube)
August 11, 2025 — Judas’ Gospel (theatrical: Locarno Film Festival)
September 4-14, 2025 — You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution... (theatrical: Toronto International Film Festival)
September 5, 2025 — Light of the World (theatrical: Salvation Poem Project)
September 26, 2025 — Ruth & Boaz (streaming: Netflix)
Fall 2025 — House of David: Season 2 (streaming: Prime Video - Wonder Project)
November 2025 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 1 (streaming: Fox Nation)
December 19, 2025 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
2025 (no month specified) — The Carpenter’s Son (theatrical: Magnolia)
2025 (no month specified) — The Chosen Adventures (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — The Promised Land: Season 1 (streaming)
March 22-April 5, 2026 — The Faithful (television: Fox)
April-May 2026 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
second half of 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Season 6: Finale (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
no release date specified — David (theatrical)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — Joseph of Egypt (streaming: Prime Video)
no release date specified — The Resurrection of the Christ (theatrical: Lionsgate)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)