Angel Studios’ animated movie about Jesus Christ, The King of Kings, is performing incredibly well at the box office. Released in theaters on April 11, 2025, The King of Kings is a family-friendly Christian film that brings the life of Jesus Christ to the screen through the narrative framing of Charles Dickens. It might not come from one of Hollywood’s major studios or have had a traditional extensive marketing campaign, but that has not stopped the Biblical animated movie from finding its audience in theaters and generating strong box office hauls as a result.

The King of Kings‘ success at the box office in its first two weeks is especially impressive considering its compeтιтion. There is not another major animated movie in theaters at the moment, but families still have IP films like A Minecraft Movie and Snow White that could appeal to them. While The King of Kings is still well short of catching either of their overall box office totals, it has continued to perform well. It’s stayed near the top of box office charts to this point in its theatrical run, and it could keep surprising for weeks to come potentially.

How Much The King Of Kings Has Made At The Box Office

It’s Been In Theaters For Less Than 2 Weeks

Angel Studios has over 45 million reasons to celebrate the release of their first animated movie. That’s because The King of Kings has made $45 million at the box office after only 10 days in theaters. The film’s impressive performance began with a $19.3 million opening weekend domestically. It finished second in the weekend box office during that frame after playing in 3,200 theaters. More impressively, The Kings of Kings broke the record for the biggest animated Biblical opening ever, defeating The Prince of Egypt‘s $14.5 million opening.

The film did not slow down over its first week, as it pulled in another $9 million over the next four days leading into the Easter Sunday weekend. Angel Studios smartly released the film around the Christian holiday celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection, which is depicted in the movie. High interest helped The King of Kings make another $17.2 million in its second weekend. That’s a miraculous 10.8 percent drop. With less than one million dollars in ticket sales internationally, The King of Kings‘ box office total of $45.8 million is almost entirely from domestic viewers.

Why The King Of Kings Is Doing So Well At The Box Office

A Lot Is Working In The Animated Biblical Film’s Favor

There are several reasons why The King of Kings has done so well at the box office. One of the broadest benefits is Angel Studios’ ability to create a movie for a portion of the population that does not regularly see their religion represented on the big screen in this way. Christian movies do not always become box office success stories, but there are examples of them achieving big success when the target audience is aware of their existence. Angel Studios gave the film a sizable marketing campaign and pushed The King of Kings‘ free tickets to help drive business.

Appealing to Christian audiences helps set The King of Kings apart from the other kid-friendly movies currently in theaters. A Minecraft Movie and Snow White both have name recognition attached to them, but so to does The King of Kings thanks to telling Jesus Christ’s story. This is a story filled with characters that Christians, and even non-Christians, know well. This might not be IP in the same way that A Minecraft Movie adapts a popular video game or Snow White adapts an animated movie, but it is adapting a known property with the Bible and Jesus Christ.

This is what Angel Studios is pointing to when it comes to explaining The King of Kings‘ success. Brandon Purdie, Global Head of Theatrical Distribution & Brand Development at Angel Studios, said in a press release, “The King of Kings is an epic, emotional journey made for the big screen. Theaters are responding by making room, and audiences are flocking in droves, speaking loud and clear: they’re here for stories that amplify light.“

It also helps that audience reactions to The King of Kings has been very positive. The movie has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is notably higher than the 65% critics score and also a record for Oscar Isaac. It also got a rare A+ CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences. That gives The King of Kings‘ incredible word of mouth and should result in people who see it imploring others to also check it out in theaters.

How The King Of Kings’ Box Office Compares To Sound Of Freedom

Angel Studios’ Prior Release Was Its Biggest Hit

The King of Kings‘ box office is another success for Angel Studios. The studio is less than two years removed from announcing itself as a major player in cinemas thanks to the performance of Sound of Freedom. The controversial true story movie became a mᴀssive box office success after making $250 million worldwide, $184 million of which came domestically. The King of Kings has currently made over $200 million less than Sound of Freedom‘s final total, but comparing the two totals is not fair. It’s better to look at their performances during their first 10 days of release.

Sound of Freedom had a unique box office performance, where it made $14.2 million alone on its opening day on July 4, 2023. It had a major opening ahead of its official opening weekend this way. Sound of Freedom‘s 10-day domestic box office total was $58.4 million as a result, and it still wasn’t at the next weekend. Its domestic total after its second weekend (or 13 days in theaters) was $85.7 million, as it made another $27.2 million during this frame.

This puts The King of Kings well behind Sound of Freedom at the different stages. It’s $13 million behind the 10-day gross total, and a whopping $40 million behind the second weekend totals. The King of Kings will need even better legs than Sound of Freedom if its going to come close to matching Angel Studios’ biggest hit. Still, it’s easily beaten all of the studio’s other films at the box office. That makes The King of Kings the second-highest-grossing movie for Angel Studios already.

How King Of Kings’ Box Office Compares To The Prince Of Egypt

The Last Major Biblical Animated Box Office Hit

The King Of Kings already claimed the record over The Prince of Egypt for the highest opening weekend of an animated Biblical movie. Angel Studios’ release is staying ahead of the 1998 DreamWorks movie after those first three days, though.

The Prince of Egypt‘s release was well-timed, right before Christmas, and received a boost in its second weekend of release. It made $15.1 million (up from $14.5 million) and bolstered its domestic total to $40 million. It went on to have incredible legs through the beginning of 1999 and made another $61 million before its theatrical run domestically concluded. It also pulled in a surprising $117.2 million overseas, bringing the global total to $218 million.

Currently, The King of Kings is staying ahead of The Prince of Egypt domestically through the first 10 days of release. It’s $5.3 million ahead of the 1998 movie at the same point and could continue to have strong legs going forward. That may enable The King of Kings to match The Prince of Egypt‘s $100 million domestic total if everything goes well. But, Angel Studios will need to find a way to bring the story to more international audiences to get it anywhere close to the final total of DreamWorks’ film.

King Of Kings’ Box Office Continues A Strong Run For Biblical Movies

Christian Audiences Have Been Supporting Films For Them

The success of The King of Kings at the box office is another example of a Christian or Biblical production doing well in theaters. There’s early examples like The Prince of Egypt ($218M) and The Pᴀssion of the Christ ($610M), as well as notable hits from the last decade or so in Heaven Is For Real ($101M), I Can Only Imagine ($86M), War Room ($73M), and God’s Not ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ($64M). More recently, Sound of Freedom ($250M) did much better than anyone expected, and the theatrical releases for The Chosen episodes have been huge hits.

With The King of Kings now also performing well at the same time The Chosen season 5’s box office is breaking records, the appeтιтe for Christian-themed releases is becoming more apparent. They might not have the mᴀss appeal of some major Hollywood productions or be for everyone, but there’s no denying the history of success behind this type of filmmaking. It’s no wonder Angel Studios is expanding The Chosen‘s franchise, reuniting the Sound of Freedom team for Zero AD, or working on an animated Biblical film about David. The King of Kings‘ box office success warrants more.