It started as a crowdfunded experiment—an idea that, on paper, didn’t stand a chance. A multi-season TV series about Jesus, independently produced, distributed outside of the Hollywood system and funded by everyday viewers. That’s not just an uphill battle. It’s a logistical nightmare.
But The Chosen didn’t just survive; it thrived. Five seasons in, it has become a cultural phenomenon, shattering streaming records, expanding into global theatrical releases and broadcast TV, and captivating audiences in ways that few religious projects (or honestly, most prestige TV shows) ever have. And no one seems more surprised by its success than its creator, Dallas Jenkins.
“Everything about this thing surprises me,” Jenkins says. “It never stops being humbling.”
It’s not hard to see why Hollywood didn’t see this coming. Faith-based entertainment has, for years, been treated like an afterthought—a genre relegated to low-budget films with preachy scripts and heavy-handed morals. Studios have rarely invested in faith content beyond sporadic attempts to cash in on religious audiences. But The Chosen didn’t follow the traditional formula and that’s precisely why it worked.
Now, five seasons in, it’s not just bigger than anyone expected. It’s making faith-based entertainment feel… different.
With each new season, The Chosen has expanded its scope. Season five, which debuts in theaters in over 40 countries before hitting streaming platforms, takes things to a whole new level. “This is by far the biggest season we’ve ever done,” Jenkins says. “From a strictly artistic perspective, the backdrop, the sets—Jerusalem itself—it’s all on a much bigger stage.”
The new season covers some of the most dramatic moments in the Gospels: the triumphal entry, the overturning of the tables in the temple and the Last Supper. But what sets this season apart isn’t just its scale—it’s the emotional intensity.
“This is a side of Jesus you’ve never seen before,” Jenkins explains. “We’ve seen hints of this before, but never like this consistently. He literally just upended a marketplace. He cursed a fig tree to death. The disciples are asking, ‘Why are you so angry? Why are you so sad?’”
The gentle, soft-spoken Jesus of felt-board Sunday school stories is nowhere to be found here. Instead, this season presents a Christ who is fiery, burdened and fully aware of the suffering ahead. Jenkins knows that some audiences may wrestle with that, but for him, that’s the point.
“We know what happened,” he says. “But my job is to help you understand the stakes and who’s involved. The Bible gives us the facts; we want to bring the humanity.”
That’s been The Chosen’s secret from the beginning: the ability to take familiar stories and infuse them with real emotional weight. It’s what has made the show resonate with so many people—many of whom already know the stories but have never felt them like this before.
Of course, not everyone has been on board. Some critics say the show takes too many liberties, filling in gaps that scripture doesn’t explicitly address. Jenkins hears those concerns but remains unapologetic about the creative choices.
“Our big word is plausibility,” he says. “If it isn’t factual, is it plausible? If it’s not small-f fact, is it capital-T Truth? That’s what we’re always going for.”
That guiding principle has shaped everything from character backstories to minor creative flourishes that aren’t in the biblical text but feel true to its spirit. The portrayal of Matthew as neurodivergent, for example, wasn’t a scriptural mandate but resonated deeply with fans—particularly families with autistic children.
“A family with an autistic son came up to me and said, ‘The portrayal of Matthew helped us realize our son can follow Jesus the same way we can,’” Jenkins recalls. “That kind of stuff is what surprises me.”
Surprise has become a recurring theme. Even Jenkins didn’t anticipate the sheer size and reach of The Chosen’s audience. More than 200 million people have watched the series worldwide, a staggering number for any show, let alone one made outside of the Hollywood system.
And it’s not just about viewership. Jenkins sees firsthand the emotional impact the show has had. He recalls traveling to Brazil and being met with long meet-and-greet lines, despite the language barrier. Fans who couldn’t speak English would type out messages on their phones, use Google Translate and show him their words—only for Jenkins to realize they were saying the exact same things as fans back home.
“That’s what blows me away,” he says. “The same scenes are impacting people, the same emotional reactions are happening everywhere.”
Hollywood has long underestimated the power of faith-based stories. Studios tend to think in binary: movies about religion are either niche, sanitized and safe or they’re secular and detached from real spiritual weight. The Chosen broke that mold. It’s neither a cheap cash grab nor a theological lecture. It’s something else entirely—a show that prioritizes storytelling over sermonizing and, as a result, has reached people who might otherwise never engage with the biblical narrative.
That connection has transformed The Chosen from just a streaming series into a full-scale cultural movement. In theaters, screenings have taken on an almost church-like quality as audiences laugh, cry and react together.
“There’s something special about that gathering of people with a shared belief and a shared passion,” Jenkins says. “Introverts have even told us that seeing it in a theater made it easier for them to connect with others.”
That communal experience has only strengthened as the show grows, leading Jenkins and his team to expand beyond the original series. His production company, Five & Two, is already developing new projects—including a Chosen-style miniseries on Joseph and an animated show, The Chosen Adventures.
“We’re taking everything we’ve learned and applying it to future projects,” he says. “Every Bible story we tell will have the same approach—finding the humanity in it so that people can see themselves in the story.”
Joseph, he explains, was a natural next step. “The Joseph story sets up the need for the law. Moses is the response to Joseph’s story,” he says. “And eventually, all of it points to Jesus.”
That’s the bigger picture for Jenkins. The Chosen isn’t just a show about Jesus—it’s a launchpad for something much larger.
Hollywood, famously risk-averse, probably won’t replicate The Chosen anytime soon. But its success has sent a clear message: faith-based storytelling isn’t just for a niche audience, and it doesn’t have to be creatively stale or low-budget to succeed.
For Jenkins, though, the goal was never to replace scripture or turn a TV show into a spiritual authority. But if The Chosen can push people to re-engage with the Bible in a deeper way, that’s enough.
“It’s not that the show brings the Bible to life,” he says. “The Bible has always been alive. The show brings you to life.”
And that’s something even Hollywood couldn’t have predicted.
