Oscar Isaac Is Playing Jesus In The King Of Kings
Oscar Isaac is playing Jesus Christ in the upcoming animated film The King of Kings. Joining Isaac in the film is Forest Whitaker, who is playing the apostle Peter. Whitaker and Isaac are part of the impressively A-list cast that also includes Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, and Roman Griffin Davis.
Based On The Charles Dickens Story
Oscar Isaac’s animated Jesus film is directed by South Korean visual expert Seong-ho Jay Jang for MOFAC Animation. Jang is also handling the script, along with Rob Edwards, best known for his work on Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. According to reports, the film is loosely inspired by the Charles Dickens short story The Life of Our Lord.
Oscar Isaac Isn’t The Only Star Attached
The Life of Our Lord was a short story that Dickens wrote for his children, who followed Jesus of Nazareth throughout his life. The animated The King of Kings seems like it will be a more fantastical take on the source material, as the film will follow Charles Dickens and his son Walter on a “multi-dimensional adventure” that looks at the life of Jesus.
In addition to Oscar Isaac’s casting as Jesus and Forest Whitaker’s casting as Peter, it was previously revealed that Charles Dickens would be voiced by Kenneth Branagh and Walter Dickens would be voiced by Roman Griffin Davis.
Not The First Time He Played A Biblical Character
Producer Anfernee Kim talked about Oscar Isaac’s casting saying, “Oscar perfectly captures the impactful delivery of Jesus, and Forest’s expertly embodies the complicated aspects of Peter.” Also on board for the project are Jamie Thomasan and Andrew Mann as executive producers. One of the last pieces of the puzzle will be a distributor, as Mofac Animation is currently fielding options for distribution.
Interestingly enough, Oscar Isaac hasn’t played Jesus before, but he did play Mary’s husband, Joseph, in the 2006 film The Nativity Story. Most recently, Isaac was in the animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse Miguel O’Hara. The film was met with universal critical acclaim and Isaac’s performance was also praised.
Another Upcoming Animated Role
Along with Oscar Isaac’s upcoming animated voice role as Jesus, he is also set to return in the animated sequel to Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. That film’s release was delayed indefinitely and doesn’t currently have a release date. The King of Kings also doesn’t currently have a release window, but we’ll presumably find out more when Mofac finds a distributor for the film.
Oscar Isaac Is Keeping Busy
While we wait for Oscar Isaac to return to the world of animation in the Jesus film The King of Kings and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, we’ll get to see his next live-action role in the upcoming Netflix film Frankenstein. Isaac is playing Dr. Victor Frankenstein in the Guillermo del Toro-directed film based on Mary Shelley’s classic novel. Joining Isaac for the project are Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster, along with Mia Goth, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, Charles Dance, Felix Kammerer, and Christoph Waltz.
Production of Frankenstein is expected to wrap soon, so we’ll hopefully hear more about it soon. We’ll also keep you updated on Oscar Isaac’s Jesus film as more news is announced. In the meantime, you can check out his performance in Across the Spider -Verse on Netflix.
