Star Wars actor and former Christian ska band member Oscar Isaac has signed on to portray Jesus Christ in a new animated film, The King of Kings.
The film will be adapted from The Life of Our Lord, a little-known Charles Dickens short story that depicted the life and times of Jesus. The story follows the Dickens family — Charles (voiced by Kenneth Branagh), wife Catherine (Uma Thurman) and son Walter (Jojo Rabbit star Roman Griffin Davis) — as they vividly imagine the life of Jesus, his well-known trials and tribulations, and the notable people in his life.
Isaac has been tapped to voice Jesus, while Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker will voice the apostle Peter.
Producer Anfernee Kim told The Hollywood Reporter that he hoped the film would allow audiences to easily relate to the Bible’s stories and viewers of all ages could engage with Jesus’ story in an exciting way.
“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,” Kim added. “Oscar perfectly captures the impactful delivery of Jesus, and Forest’s expertly embodies the complicated aspects of Peter.”
Hollywood seems to be interested in telling the life of Jesus a lot lately. From Andrew Garfield potentially starring in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Jesus film, to a bizarre, horror story about Jesus’ childhood — featuring Nicolas Cage as his father, Joseph — to the hugely successful series The Chosen, it appears that there’s never been a better time to watch Jesus’ life on the big screen.
