It’s official: Season 4 of ‘The Chosen’ will have a unique release
In a bold move that’s not typical for a television series, every episode of “The Chosen” Season 4 will be released in theaters starting on Feb. 1.
Episodes 1 through 3 will be released on Feb. 1, 4 through 6 will follow starting on Feb. 15, and 7 and 8 will come out on Feb. 29.
It isn’t the first time “The Chosen” has done a theatrical release, but it is the first time “The Chosen” has decided to release all episodes in select theaters across the U.S. and Canada. In partnership with Fathom, theaters across the U.S. will roll out episodes of “The Chosen” starting at the beginning of February running through March.
“The Chosen” is an Angel Original series about the ministry and resurrection of Jesus, who is played by Jonathan Roumie of “Jesus Revolution” fame. It’s created and directed by Dallas Jenkins.
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“We are thrilled to collaborate again with The Chosen team to bring fans the entire fourth season to cinemas before it is available elsewhere,” Ray Nutt, CEO of Fathom Events, said in a press release sent to the Deseret News. “It is a testament to the big screen’s power to unite people and have them share in this communal experience.”
Kyle Young, head of distribution for “The Chosen,” told media about the decision in a press conference last week. When I asked Young how the team decided to go ahead with an unprecedented theatrical release, he said the decision came down to the fans.
Fans loved when Season 3 of “The Chosen” had its premiere in theaters and so the team decided they wanted to give fans “even more of an opportunity.”
“It’s a little bit disruptive,” he said. “Which is part of our company values.”
“Every time we’ve dipped our toes in the theatrical waters, viewers have overwhelmingly told us they want more. After seeing the Season 4 episodes, we knew we’d be doing our fans a disservice if we denied them the chance to see them all on a big screen with others they can laugh and cry with,” Jenkins said in a press release.
As for what to expect from Season 4, president of production Mark Sourian said it was “a really terrific” production.
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“My feeling from an arm’s chair point of view is that he’s got that look on his of feeling like he’s got something really special,” Sourian said about Jenkins. “I think this season, as we’ve mentioned before, was a turning point.”
Jenkins said something similar when the cast and crew were in the middle of filming the season.
“Season 4, I think, so far is going to be our most emotionally challenging season,” Jenkins said. “There was the year of preparation, the year of population is happening and he’s increasing in popularity. Season 4 is where it starts to turn.”
While Jenkins said the season isn’t as complicated (compared to the previous season, when Jesus walked on water, which required creative filmmaking techniques), he said viewers should expect a series of episodes “just as intense and significant.”
Viewers of the show can expect Jesus and the disciples to face “real challenges” and even confront enemies in this season. “These enemies are supervillains, if you will, to use a Marvel term,” Sourian described.
One of the differences between the villains and the disciples is that the villains come from a “very lavish world” with “very different colors.” By comparison, Jesus and the disciples come from a world with a “more modest look,” Sourian explained.
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Even though viewers haven’t seen Season 4 yet, Sourian is looking forward to Season 5.
“I wish it was a double feature. It’s not, but it’ll come out and it’ll be as good as Season 4,” Sourian said.
As for what’s next for “The Chosen,” there is an upcoming Christmas special released in theaters on Dec. 12 (tickets go on sale on Nov. 20) and Sourian hinted about other projects being in the works.
“We continue to work on additional projects that are in the works, nothing that I really want to talk about yet,” Sourian said. “Dallas is the kind of person who has a lot of humility, so if he’s going to talk about something it’s because he’s really ready to talk about it.”
