Jesus Film Project and Premise Entertainment have announced a new animated family film about the life of Jesus produced by an award-winning team of animation experts and designed to reach families, new generations and people of all ages.
Planned for global cinematic release Christmas 2026, JESUS re-imagines the original JESUS film released in 1979 by Jesus Film Project and aims to build upon its global legacy of an estimated 10+ billion viewings in 2,000+ languages across 225 countries.
The project combines the talents of entertainment industry veterans and state of the art animation technology to produce a theatrical quality film that virtual reality capabilities can be used for “rich and immersive bible studies” within children’s ministry and school curriculums.
“As we embark on making this unique global film for a global audience, I continue to be amazed by the award-winning talent and team that is coming together to create this film and the immersive digital experience to follow,” Producer Ray Aguerrevere said in an animationmagazine.net article.
“For me, the most exciting aspect is the way that we will be able to redeploy these assets from the JESUS animated film to create experiences accessible on various platforms including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and the emerging Metaverse.”
Director Dominic Carola has been in the animation industry for 30 years and has had the privilege of working on many films and projects including The Lion King, Mulan and Lilo & Stitch.
Despite being attached to many inspirational animated films within Disney’s Renaissance period, Carola has acknowledged JESUS as his most meaningful and impactful project.
“It’s an honour to bring this film to life with such an exceptional team,” Carola shared.
“We’re leaning into classic elements from the Golden Age of Illustrators with an aim for a beautiful film to match its story content.”
Key team members include head of production Jason Fricchione (Ice Age franchise), line producer Tracey Dispensa (How to Train Your Dragon), VFX supervisor John Helms (Star Wars franchise), production designer Armand Serrano (Big Hero 6) and lead editor Lauren Stevens (Spies in Disguise).
In addition to the creative team, Jesus Film Project have employed the expertise of archaeologist Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, spiritual historian and linguist Dr. Michael Heiser Ritmeyer, Baptist Pastor and author Troy Schmidt to transport audiences back to Jesus’ time.
You can follow the creative journey between now and the release by downloading ASJ Insider or via https://www.movieschangepeople.com/jesus