This TV series about Jesus is making millions — at the box office
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This Easter weekend, theaters from Torrance to Temecula will be showing films such as “A Minecraft Movie” and Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller “Sinners.” Alongside those movies, many will also be showing an eight-hour “binge fest” of the latest season of “The Chosen,” the popular streaming series that chronicles the life of Jesus.
Bingeing a series on the big screen is highly unusual, particularly as streaming businesses and movie theaters have become increasingly at odds over attracting audiences.
But the unconventional distribution strategy has proved to be a win — for the show’s creator, who sees theatrical presence as a marketing tool, and for theater owners, who are looking for new ways to draw in audiences and see a potential opportunity in popular streaming shows.
Top theater lobbyist Michael O’Leary called for a minimum theatrical window for 45 days. But many say it’s too late to turn back time.
“Just think about if the first episode of ‘The White Lotus,’ or the last episode, was shown in theaters, how many people would come,” said Bob Bagby, president and chief executive of B&B Theaters, whose Red Oak 12 theater in Dallas hosted the world premiere for “The Chosen.” “We would certainly welcome other streamers.”
“The Chosen” was perhaps the ideal candidate for such an experiment.
Since its premiere in 2017, “The Chosen” has developed a devoted fan base and spanned five seasons so far. It can be viewed for free online on “The Chosen” app, though the new season will be available to stream on Amazon Prime — after its theatrical run is expected to end April 24, but before it hits the app.
Since “The Chosen: Last Supper Part 1” arrived in theaters March 28, the three multi-episode installments of the current season have grossed more than $40 million at the U.S. box office, underscoring the growing niche for faith-based content.
“It’s a great marketing tool,” said Dallas Jenkins, show creator, director and producer. “We make a little bit of money on it. Our actors get more money. It’s a way to help sustain this company that we’ve started.”
Though the most passionate fans are Christian, or strongly religious, about 30% to 40% of its audience are not churchgoers or traditional believers in Christianity, Jenkins said.
“It is the greatest story ever told ... but it’s always been on stained-glass windows, or statues,” he said. “There’s a formality to it, a rigidity to it. And what we keep hearing over and over from nonbelievers is, ‘Yeah, I’m not a Christian. I don’t go to church. ... But this is a great story, and I love seeing a Jesus that laughs with his friends at weddings and dances and tells jokes ... and has a lot of the same human experiences that we do.’”
Jenkins first brought portions of “The Chosen” to the big screen in 2021, beginning with a Christmas special he intended as a one-night-only showing with specialty distributor Fathom Entertainment to surprise fans. That turned into a multi-week theatrical run that grossed $13.8 million.
Buoyed by the success of the special, “The Chosen” then premiered the beginning and the finale of its third season in theaters. By Season 4 the entire eight-episode narrative was available in theaters in multi-episode portions and eventually grossed $32 million.
Gone are the days where prospective moviegoers would roll up to the theaters and gawk at the board for their next watch. Theaters are trying to make up that business in other ways.
“Last year we thought that we had reached a bit of a ceiling with how many people were interested in coming to the theater to watch a TV show,” Jenkins said. “Certainly, it was more than the industry would have ever thought or predicted.”
This season’s box office total has already surpassed that amount.
In fact, Season 5 of “The Chosen” is now the biggest movie or project in the 21-year history of Fathom Entertainment, a joint venture of movie theater chains AMC, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark. Faith-based content like “The Chosen” has become one of the bigger categories for the distributor.
“To have this many people come out to a movie theater and pay for it and actually see it is pretty remarkable,” said Ray Nutt, chief executive of Fathom Entertainment.
He said that he’s had discussions about other episodic content that could play in theaters, but that the content must be right for such a strategy.
“It can’t be just a movie that somebody decides to divide into parts and get another bite at the apple, if you will,” Nutt said. “It’s got to be something that is episodic, that is going to bring people back.”
The excitement for the latest season of “The Chosen” was palpable at its world premiere last month at B&B Theaters Red Oak 12 in Dallas.
Fans began showing up days in advance, asking theater staff if they could help out with the event. When the day arrived, the premiere was attended by about 1,000 people, including cast, crew and fans. Additional spectators watched along the sidelines in hopes of glimpsing the series’ stars.
“We are seeing a whole new audience, a growing audience for these faith-based films,” said Bagby, who also serves as chair of the Cinema United trade group. “Reaching an older audience is difficult these days, but this is a streaming show that these guests have watched and enjoyed, and now they get to come together with other believers and other friends and watch it together on the big screen.”
The series is financed by a religious nonprofit, which pays Jenkins’ company, 5&2 Studios, to oversee production of “The Chosen.” The company makes money from licensing fees and sells merchandise to fans.
Inspired by the ensemble focus of “The West Wing,” the humanity and authenticity of “Friday Night Lights” and the multiple perspectives of “The Wire,” Jenkins said he sees “The Chosen” as a historical drama, rather than explicitly faith-based.
“I’m not enamored with the term ‘faith-based’ because it tends to kind of exclude a large part of the audience,” he said. “It happens to be about a religious figure, of course ... but I think we’re showing that anyone can appreciate this.”
Faith-based content is a niche but also a burgeoning theatrical market. Since these stories typically rely on character-driven narratives and are not as cast-dependent, overall budgets tend to be lower, said David A. Gross, who writes a movie industry newsletter.
Although not every film will bring in box office numbers like Mel Gibson’s 2004 hit “The Passion of the Christ,” which grossed more than $610 million worldwide, movies in this sector have done well with audiences in the last few years, Gross said.
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That includes 2023’s “Sound of Freedom” from distributor Angel Studios, which made more than $250 million worldwide at the box office. Last year, there were 17 domestic faith-based wide releases, which grossed a total of $237.4 million worldwide, Gross added.
“It’s the story and point-of-view that counts,” he wrote in an email. “When they resonate, these audiences show up.”
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