USA (MNN) — The iconic and record-breaking “JESUS” film is set to hit theatres worldwide in a new animated format in December 2025, hoping to target a younger generation engaging in new forms of media.
“JESUS (2025)” was announced in November, 2023 as the newest undertaking from the Jesus Film Project, sharing the story of the life of Jesus as found in Luke.
“There are quite a few reasons to go animated with the Jesus film, but one of them is just, with the way that the world is today, in the age of the world, we want to have a way that we can have an impact with those who are engaging in media in new ways,” Chris Deckert with the Jesus Film Project said.
The chosen format for “JESUS (2025)” is animation, a type of media that connects people of all ages and speaks to a younger generation. With the average global age being just 30 years old, Deckert sees the importance of engaging with this next generation and communicating about who Jesus is.
The original “JESUS“ film broke records as the most translated film of all time, available in over 2,100 languages. The creators of “JESUS (2025)” intend for this animated version to use the same audio from current translations, making it accessible to just as many people groups.
Scene from new animated film highlights the Scripture passage “On Earth as it is in Heaven”. Photo courtesy of Jesusfilm.org
“For every new language that we work on, we’re going to be doing the traditional Jesus film classically,” Deckert said. “All the translations will be the same. We work with our Bible translators and get straight from the Gospel of Luke most of what we have in the film. So as we translate that, we put it into the Jesus film, but all those lines then will be dropped into an animated version.”
“JESUS (2025)” will first be released in English, and shown in theatres in the United States. From there, the film will be dubbed into the top 100 world languages. The Jesus Film Project will then continue to process the film into other languages as quickly as possible.
The animated version is currently in the process of production. Deckert says it’ll be more than a year and half before it is ready to be released. In the meantime, the organization is working on fundraising and making sure that the work they’re doing is accurate.
“And so the production team, the people they’re working with, who have professional experience in animation, come from different areas that they’ve had such great quality, and they’re bringing that into this project,” Deckert said. “But we want to ensure that this is really high quality, and that it’ll be an engaging story that people connect with not only in the U.S., but in the couple thousand other languages around the world.”
Those interested in keeping up with the development of the project can visit Jesus.film or download the Jesus Film Insider app. On another app, Jesus Film, the film is available for download for free in the 2,100 languages it is translated into.
Deckert recalls a time he was able to use the app share the film with his Kenyan cab driver in the driver’s tribe’s language. The driver downloaded the film to share it with his family and realized that his own cousin was the one narrating in their language.
“So just watching God bring people together with the Gospel and connecting it to them is so easy when you can share it in their own language from anywhere in the world,” Deckert said.
Visit Jesus.film for more information on this project.
Header image courtesy of Jesusfilm.org
