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Korean animated film 'The King of Kings' arrives as rare U.S. box office hit

Published: 13 Apr. 2025, 14:18

YOON SO-YEON
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″The King of Kings″ animated movie poster [ANGEL STUDIOS]

An animated film produced by a Korean company, “The King of Kings,” came in second at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend, a rare feat for a Korean 3-D animated film.

According to Box Office Mojo, “The King of Kings” sold $7 million in tickets in the country on Friday, coming in behind game-based action flick “A Minecraft Movie,” which brought in $20.5 million on the same day.

“The Amateur,” “Warfare” and “Drop” followed “The King of Kings.”

“The King of Kings” was created by Korean production company Mofac Studios. Jang Seong-ho, the founder of Mofac Studios, directed, wrote, produced and edited the project.

Mofac Studios is known for its special effects work on major domestic hits such as “Haeundae” (2009) and “Roaring Currents” (2014) as well as U.S. series “Spartacus” (2010-13).

″The Passion of the Christ″ (2004) [NEWMARKET FILMS]

Variety compared “The King of Kings” to “The Prince of Egypt” (1998) for its “effort to revive the faith-based children’s movie in theaters.”

“This movie is really ‘The Passion’ for kids,” U.S. distributor Angel Studios co-founder Jordan Harmon told Variety.

“The Passion” refers to “The Passion of the Christ” (2004), the biggest hit of a biblical drama film to date.

“I truly believe this film has the potential to bless millions of kids’ lives where this becomes, for lack of a better term, a core memory,” Harmon said.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]