Latest news with #ThePrinceofEgypt
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Hollywood legend makes big bet on the future of AI
The booming artificial intelligence market is upending many industries, but it is also creating valuable opportunities for forward-thinking investors. Despite a fairly volatile start to 2025, many AI stocks such as Nvidia and Palantir have made substantial progress, establishing themselves as leaders in the space. But other investors are focused on finding newer tech companies, not yet publicly traded, with the potential to help usher in the next phase of AI. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter These companies sometimes operate under the general public's radar, quietly creating technology that has the power to disrupt entire industries and change how work is done. They may not often make headlines, but when they do, it is because someone important has decided to stake a bet on one. One example is Creatify, a platform that leverages AI technology to create video ads. An investing leader has revealed that he sees it as a likely force in the industry. If you're a fan of Hollywood animations, you probably know the work of Jeffrey Katzenberg. One of the industry's most respected producers, he helped create some of Disney's most popular animated features before helping found DreamWorks, the studio responsible for films such as "Shrek" and "The Prince of Egypt." Related: Disney makes a devastating layoff announcement Katzenberg is credited with helping turn Disney (DIS) into a multi-billion-dollar media empire and ultimately ushering in a new era of animation. But he's also a managing partner at WndrCo, an investment firm that has backed tech startups such as Airtable, Databricks, and 1Password. Now, Katzenberg has revealed that his firm is co-leading a Series A investment in Creatify, to the tune of $15.5 million. This represents a significant bet not just on the startup but on the future of AI, as Creatify is poised to disrupt the advertising industry. Why is Katzenberg investing in this startup over others? He recently revealed that he is excited about AI-generated video platforms because he believes they give storytellers a key edge. More AI News: Tempus AI hits back at scathing short reportOpenAI teams up with legendary Apple execOne AI stock makes up 78% of Nvidia's investment portfolio As an expert in both animation and storytelling, Kateznberg is well qualified to discuss these areas and to identify the technologies that can enhance them. He adds that although traditional production isn't able to keep up with today's demands for custom ads, modern AI systems can, making them a game-changer for the industry. The fact that someone like Katzenberg is betting big on a company like Creatify suggests that the advertising industry may be about to change. For some, that might raise the question of how severely jobs in the field will be impacted. Related: Why two AI leaders are losing talent to startup Anthropic Based on what Katzenberg and Creatify Cofounder and CEO Yinan Na have said, it doesn't seem like these technologies will replace too many human workers. "It's about harnessing AI to democratize creativity and empower entrepreneurs everywhere to scale their storytelling and grow their businesses," states Na. The CEO adds that his vision is to create the "Shopify of video ads" with Creatify, engineering a platform that empowers entrepreneurs to venture into a new industry with user-friendly tools. While this may lead to more video content and advertising campaigns, it doesn't seem as if it will do the creative part of advertising. Telling stories is a crucial part of the industry, as many experts have reiterated. Joe Lazer, Pepper CEMO and author of "The Storytelling Edge," addressed this earlier in the year, stating, "No matter how good generative AI gets, great storytellers will be the hardest thing for it to replace. AI can write, but it can never be a storyteller." Related: Billionaire fund manager, skeptical of AI, backs shocking stock The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Tatler Asia
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
7 Heart-warming animated movies to watch this Holy Week
Coco (2017) Above For families, try watching 'Coco' (2017) this Holy Week While not a religious film, Coco explores themes of family legacy, remembrance, and the afterlife—beautiful ideas to contemplate during Holy Week. Rise of the Guardians (2012) Above 'Rise of the Guardians' (2012) is a good animated movie for Holy Week This DreamWorks film brings together mythical figures like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and more, to protect the innocence and wonder of children. At its heart, it's a story about believing in things unseen: faith, hope, and the light we carry inside us. Related : Karmic ties, soulmates, and more: How do you know if you've found 'The One'? Stephanie Zubiri answers The Prince of Egypt (1998) Above Don't know what to watch this Holy Week? Try 'The Prince of Egypt' (1998) This animated movie tells the biblical story of Moses—a journey from exile to deliverance. Hans Zimmer's powerful score, paired with dramatic visuals, makes this one of the most unforgettable biblical adaptations ever made. Up (2009) Above The opening of 'Up', an animated movie recommendation this Holy Week More than a fun adventure, Up teaches us a thing or two about grief, moving on, and finding new purpose at any age. Deeply touching and unexpectedly spiritual, this movie is both a relaxing and soul-stirring watch for Holy Week. See also : Holy Week 2025: Here are 5 churches and sanctuaries that tell a story The Little Prince (2015) Above 'The Little Prince' (2015) is among our animated movie recommendations for Holy Week This beautifully animated adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic explores themes of innocence, wonder, and seeing with the heart. Spirited Away (2001) Above 'Spirited Away' is also among our movie recommendations for Holy Week Spirited Away (2001) is one of Studio Ghibli's most beloved films and is an excellent choice for Holy Week viewing due to its deep spiritual and emotional themes. While not explicitly religious, its exploration of self-discovery, redemption, and the journey of finding one's true purpose makes it incredibly fitting for this reflective season. NOW READ 6 must-watch Studio Ghibli movies: 'Spirited Away', 'My Neighbor Totoro' and more What Studio Ghibli's founder thinks of all your AI-generated cartoon photos Fibre artist Aze Ong's 'Kaloob' explores spirituality in art that binds a community
Forbes
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The King Of Kings' Business Drops Mere 10% In 2nd Weekend Box Office
"The King of Kings" partial poster. Angel Studios The animated biblical movie The King of Kings turned into a box office powerhouse in its second weekend with a mere 10% drop in business from its debut weekend. The official synopsis for The King of Kings reads, 'Inspired by Charles Dickens, The King of Kings features a father telling his son the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey. 'Through vivid imagination, the boy walks alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, facing His trials, and understanding His ultimate sacrifice. The King of Kings invites us to rediscover the enduring power of hope, love, and redemption through the eyes of a child.' Directed by Seong-Ho Jang, The King of Kings stars the voices of Oscar Isaac as Jesus Christ, Pierce Brosnan as Pontius Pilate, Mark Hamill as King Herod, Forest Whitaker as Peter, and Ben Kingsley as High Priest Caiaphas. The voice cast for the film also includes Kenneth Branagh as Charles Dickens, Uma Thurman as Catherine Dickens and Roman Griffin Davis as Walter Dickens, while James Arnold Taylor voices multiple roles in The King of Kings, including Melchior, Matthew, Thomas, Phillip and Young Jesus. Angel Studios, which produced The King of Kings, issued a press release Sunday noting that the faith-based film earned $17.2 million in North American theaters in its second Friday to Sunday frame, which is only a 10% drop from the film's $19.3 million opening weekend from April 11-13. The King of Kings is playing in 3,535 theaters domestically and has earned $45.3 million through Sunday. A scene from "The King of Kings." Angel Studios Rated PG, The King of Kings set a record in its debut weekend at the box office for the biggest opening for a faith-based animated film. The film earned $19.3 million in its opening frame, besting the previous record holder, The Prince of Egypt, which earned $14.5 million in its opening weekend in 1998. Assessing the financial success of The King of Kings in theaters, Brandon Purdie, Angel Studio's Global Head of Theatrical Distribution & Brand Development, said in a statement, 'At Angel, our Angel Guild plays a crucial role in picking winners, and this film is a testament to that vision. 'The King of Kings is an epic, emotional journey made for the big screen,' Purdie added. 'Theaters are responding by making room, and audiences are flocking in droves, speaking loud and clear: they're here for stories that amplify light.' CinemaScore, an industry leader in measuring theatergoers' interest in movies, reported that The King of Kings earned an A+. While Rotten Tomatoes critics only gave The King of Kings a 65% 'fresh' rating based on 52 reviews, the film earned a 98% 'fresh' score on the critic aggregation site's Popcornmeter based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings. The King of Kings came in third place at the domestic box office this weekend, behind the video game adaptation A Minecraft Movie at No. 2 with an estimated $41.3 million in ticket sales and vampire thriller Sinners at No. 1 with an estimated take of $45.6 million.
CBC
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Biblical box office: How productions like The Chosen are bringing Christianity to a screen near you
Wave of Christian programming is changing tenor and culture of TV and Hollywood, experts say Last weekend was something of a Sunday school special for the box office. In a surprise show of strength, the Dickens adaptation King of Kings, telling the story of Jesus Christ's life and crucifixion, exploded with a $19-million US debut. For an animated movie in April, this was surprising — given the fact it was a biblical blockbuster, even more so. Dreamworks' The Prince of Egypt set the opening-weekend high water-mark for a faith-based animated film back in 1998. But in terms of scriptural media, the success of King of Kings is far from a one-off. The recent fifth season of The Chosen also outperformed expectations. Plus, the Christian series saw its first three parts premiere in theatres to a combined total of more than $36 million US, helping cement religious programming as an appetizing genre for studios and audiences alike. "People are hungry for something. They're hungry for change. They're hungry for positive. They're hungry for light," explained The Chosen 's Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, during an interview with CBC. "They're hungry for the light that the gospels ultimately provide." Earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video's House of David — charting the rise of the biblical shepherd boy — had more than 22 million tuning in for the first 17 days after its February release. According to Amazon MGM Studios, that placed it in the top 10 of U.S. series debuts. Lionsgate's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever — the proselytizing, Pete Holmes-led Christmas movie — managed an already impressive $40 million US, which was made even more impressive by the fact it was competing with heavyweights Wicked and Moana 2. Meanwhile, Christ-derived stories from Martin Scorsese (The Life of Jesus), Terrence Malick (The Way of the Wind) and Mel Gibson (two sequels to The Passion) are all reportedly in the works. According to Roumie, that interest and the recent successes speak to a widespread fanbase with a variety of beliefs. "I think ... about 30 per cent of our audience globally does not identify as religious or churchgoing, whether that be agnostic or atheistic," he said of The Chosen. "To us, that's just an increasing proof that the power of this series is in its storytelling." It's far from the first time Christianity has buttressed the box office. In Hollywood's early efforts to differentiate itself from the new invention of television, studios shifted away from creating a lot of productions to funnelling their money into fewer but more big-budget spectacles, according to University of Bologna associate professor Marco Cucco. The hope was that they would convince audiences a trip to the theatre was worth it. To further cement the appeal, those early precursors to the modern-day blockbuster largely drew from historical stories, legends and fables that people were already aware of. That included biblical tales, like Ben-Hur, The Greatest Story Ever Told, 1961's live-action King of Kings and The Ten Commandments. It wasn't until the stunning success of Jaws fundamentally shifted the cinematic landscape toward action films in the mid-1970s that that biblical formula started to fade. 'It's supposed to speak to the human experience' Catholic priest and film critic Eric Mah said the wind had more or less left the sails for faith-based films. The reason for their return to prominence, he argued, is in the updated way in which these stories are told. "The thing about religion just in general, if it's lived authentically and is taught authentically, it's supposed to speak to the human experience," he said. "Before, the focus was on making Christian films with the purpose of catechesis or evangelization. And now I think people are just focused on making good films, which I think actually is the way to go, right?" But there's more than just faith at play. Many of these productions — including The Chosen and King of King s — got their start with Angel Studios. (After an initial association, The Chosen and Angel Studios parted ways in early 2024.) The studio was founded by brothers affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and has since pumped out a multitude of Christian and Christian-adjacent content. That includes 2023's Sound of Freedom, the seemingly secular film about child trafficking starring The Passion of the Christ 's Jim Caviezel. It would eventually become embroiled in a culture war, and found itself connected to religiosity despite having no overt link to it. LISTEN | Sound of Freedom's box-office success: Media Audio | Sound of Freedom's unlikely box office dominance Caption: Film critic Nick Allen and journalist Justin Ling explain how Sound of Freedom, a small independent film released by a faith-based studio, became the surprise movie success story of the summer — and how it's become a lightning rod in the divisive culture wars currently raging across North America. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. "Even though Sound of Freedom wasn't perhaps an explicitly Christian film, the fact that [audiences] made that connection between 'OK, this is the guy who played Jesus there,' that almost, in a certain sense, was enough to satisfy the religious longing," said Mah. But that connection went deeper than just a familiar face. Part of the association, Wall Street Journal entertainment reporter John Jurgensen says, is a cultural one. "Here was a movie that had zero to do, on the surface, with religion or God. But because of the story it was telling about child trafficking, it was kind of ringing a bell for people who identify as Christian or identify as religious who care about that as a subject," he said. Art in general, Jurgensen said, has become a "huge battleground" in the culture wars, where ideology is hashed out through the success of productions that come to represent those ideas. Jurgensen says if audiences believe that a culture or political bent has been historically underrepresented, it can motivate them to vote with their dollars to support it. From Josh Ross to the DNC, country music is officially back. Here's why How young men are changing what conservatism looks like in Canada "These things are emotional triggers for us, whether it's the music we listen to or the stories on screen that move us. And if audiences feel they come from a place that is native to these folks or to these fans and familiar, that just makes their following more passionate," he said. That's paired with an increased desire from audience for uplifting, positive content and a desire for independent productions — like The Chosen — separate from the "bubble of Hollywood." Jurgensen said the genre's rise is also at least partially tied to the pendulum of cultural trends that isn't likely to swing back anytime soon. "What we spend our money on, what we show to our families, has really become a point of contention for people who are staking out just different ways of thinking, and who want to see their viewpoints represented on the screens that they sit in front of," he said. "It's not necessarily the reason someone is buying that ticket. But I have a feeling that when pressed to talk about how it fits into their broader views of the world, they really see this as part of who they are."
Forbes
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The King Of Kings' Sets Box Office Record For Animated Faith-Based Film
A scene from "The King of Kings." Angel Studios The animated biblical film The King of Kings — starring the voices of Oscar Isaac and Pierce Brosnan — set a major record in its first weekend in theaters. Based on Charles Dickens' classic novel The Life of Our Lord, Angel Studios' The King of Kings opened in theaters on Friday. In addition to Isaac (voice of Jesus) and Brosnan (Pontius Pilate), The King of Kings also stars the voices of Kenneth Branagh (Charles Dickens), Uma Thurman (Catherine Dickens), Mark Hamill (King Herrod), Ben Kingsley (High Priest Caiaphas) and Forest Whitaker (Peter). Roman Griffith Davis also stars as the voice of Walter Dickens and James Arnold Taylor voices the roles of Melchior/Matthew/Thomas/Phillip/Young Jesus. According to Angel Studios, The King of Kings earned an estimated $19 million from 3,200 North American theaters, which sets the box record for the biggest opening for a faith-based animated film. The weekend opening for the film bests the previous record holder, The Prince of Egypt, which earned $14.5 million in its first three-day frame. 'The Angel Guild picks winners. Angel's revolutionary idea is simple — listen to what our Angel Guild wants,' Brandon Purdie, Global Head of Theatrical Distribution & Brand Development at Angel said in a statement. 'The CinemaScore for The King of Kings says it all. The film is one of only 128 films to achieve an A+ CinemaScore, and only the 5th animated film to hold that title that isn't a Pixar/Disney production,' Purdie added. 'Families want quality films to see together in theaters. This weekend simply reflects what audiences are craving.' The official summary for The King of Kings reads, 'A father tells his son the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey. Through vivid imagination, the boy walks alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, facing His trials and understanding His ultimate sacrifice.' With its $19 million domestic tally, The King of Kings was the top newcomer at last weekend's box office, which featured the introduction of five new films in wide release, including Drop, The Amateur, Warfare and The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 3. A Minecraft Movie — Jack Black and Jason Momoa's adaptation of the blockbuster video game Minecraft — took No. 1 for the second consecutive weekend with an estimated domestic take of $80 million. Rated PG, The King of Kings is directed by Seong-ho Jang from a screenplay by Jang and Rob Edwards.
