The most familiar story in the Western world is getting the scale of a historical epic. Angel has released the official trailer for Zero A.D.: The Birth of Christ, the new film from director Alejandro Monteverde, which arrives in theaters on December 11.
A Nativity Told Under Threat
The film returns to Judea in the years of King Herod, but it is less interested in the quiet manger scene than in the danger that surrounded it. As Angel describes it, an empire is in decay, a ruler is consumed by fear, and a star is rising over Bethlehem. When Christ is born, Herod’s dread turns into the slaughter of the innocents, and Mary must protect the child promised to save the world.
The studio frames the stakes in spiritual rather than political terms: the true battle, it says, is not for a throne but for the soul of mankind.
The Cast
Deva Cassel plays Mary, opposite Jamie Ward as Joseph. Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, crosses to the other side of the story as Herod the Great. Sam Worthington plays Herod’s son Antipater, Gael García Bernal is Mary’s father, Joachim, and Ben Mendelsohn appears as Nahash.
The Filmmakers
Monteverde directed Sound of Freedom, the 2023 Angel release that earned $250 million at the worldwide box office, according to Angel. He wrote Zero A.D. with Leo Severino and Rod Barr, reuniting with Barr, his co-writer on Sound of Freedom. Severino and Eduardo Verástegui produced.
The Road to December
The project was first announced under the working title Bethlehem and was filmed in Morocco. Angel originally dated it for December 19, 2025, then moved it into 2026, giving the holiday slot that year to its biblical drama David. With the new title and a December 11 opening, Zero A.D.: The Birth of Christ now lands squarely in the Christmas season it depicts.
Zero A.D.: The Birth of Christ opens in theaters December 11. Directed by Alejandro Monteverde; written by Alejandro Monteverde, Leo Severino and Rod Barr; starring Deva Cassel, Jim Caviezel, Sam Worthington, Gael García Bernal, Ben Mendelsohn and Jamie Ward; produced by Leo Severino and Eduardo Verástegui.
