Dallas Jenkins Wants to Build a Biblical Universe Around ‘The Chosen’ — but Don’t Call It ‘Faith-Based’
“The Chosen” is literally the story of Jesus Christ, but don’t let series creator Dallas Jenkins hear you call his stuff “faith-based.”
Jenkins acknowledges that his four-season (soon to be five) show “comes with…an implication that it’s for people of faith,” but he estimates a good 30-40 percent of its audience are not “traditionally faithful.”
More from IndieWire
And Jenkins knows his future Biblical adaptations will probably see a similar split, but he maintains faith in their broader appeal. Why?
“We do Bible better, or in a unique way, compared to anyone else,” Jenkins told IndieWire.
Last month, Jenkins rebranded The Chosen Inc. as 5&2 Studios, and announced his new slate, including several spinoffs from what Jenkins calls his “mothership show.” Like: animated series “The Chosen Adventures” and “The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls,” which pairs “The Chosen” stars with the “Man vs. Wild” personality.
Like the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe and the upcoming DC Universe (which Warner Bros. Discovery is praying to Jenkins’ God for a hot start with “Superman”), Jenkins is mapping out a connected universe of stories. (It helps, of course, that the Bible is our OG connected universe.) “The Chosen Adventures” is a kids show that follows the two children who each met Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) in a Season 3 episode of “The Chosen.”
Also in development are shows based on the lives of Moses, Joseph, and a third called “Acts of the Apostles” that follows Jesus’ disciples after the Resurrection. Some of those characters have already been introduced on “The Chosen” and may share actors in the spinoffs, but audiences can be assured that each scripted project is canon (like the sacred scriptures in Christianity). New directors will join a writers room with some serious ground rules.
“It needs to feel authentic. It needs to feel human,” Jenkins said. “Most Bible projects you’ve ever seen, including classics like ‘The Ten Commandments,’ they don’t feel like real human beings talking. They feel like statues or stained glass windows. So as long as these new voices really do adhere to that, I think you will see a connective tissue in all these projects.”
For his own sanity, not all of Jenkins’ project will be Biblical. His November 8 feature, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” will keep the Christ in Christmas, sure, but that’s about it. Jenkins promised it will not feel like a Sunday School “homework assignment to watch.”
That’s what all of this stuff used to be not that long ago. Now though we get hit movies by the Erwin Brothers through their Wonder Project cohort (of which Jenkins is involved) or from Jenkins’ former “The Chosen” partners at Angel Studios. The difference today is like Old Testament to New Testament.
“The increase of quality of so-called faith-based storytelling has exposed the fact that normal people like good storytelling, and they’re willing to watch stuff that’s from a different culture, different faith, different backdrop — if it’s good enough,” Jenkins said. “I think we used to tell ourselves that the reason faith-based projects aren’t as successful or as accepted is because people just hate God or they hate anything that comes from faith.”
Joining Jenkins in the fight to rebrand the genre is Emmy-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser. After joining 5&2’s “Adventures” as a voice actor, Hauser defended the project after an accusation that he’s “going full on weird Christian actor now.”
“I’m not making religious schlock idiocy like ‘Left Behind 5.’ This’ll be good,” Hauser responded on X.
Jenkins especially appreciated the gesture.
“Paul responding was good because it helps elevate that conversation,” Jenkins said. “It’s good for us to take a little bit of the sting off of it. But when people say stuff like that, I go, ‘Okay, I’m never going to please you. You’re never going to give our projects a chance. Who cares?'”
Studios and streamers have had their own come-to-Jesus moments recently. Amazon is partnering with Erwin’s Wonder Project, Netflix is making its own push into faith-based, and 5&2 Studios is in talks for a major streamer partnership.
The streamers “can’t ignore the numbers,” Jenkins said. One of his proudest moments was seeing “The Chosen” on the Amazon Top 10 next to “Cocaine Bear.” (One animal that probably wouldn’t have been invited on Noah’s Ark.)
But if they’re going to court an audience, they need to do so with people who understand the material so that it’s not just a “condescending play,” Jenkins said — they need true believers.
“Sometimes you’ll see a movie, it’s like, ‘Hey, we made a movie. There’s Bible stuff in it. Let’s try to get the faith crowd,'” Jenkins said. “The faith crowd can see through that.”
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.