Why the creator of ‘The Chosen’ says he cares about 5 and 2
After Dallas Jenkins’ feature film failed at the box office, he wasn’t sure if he would ever make another movie again. That’s what “The Chosen” creator told Kirk Cameron when he went on his show to talk about how he’s crafted the hit series.
“The Chosen” is an epic historical drama slated for seven seasons. It follows the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) and is one of the top-rated shows on IMDb.
Jenkins is the creator and director of “The Chosen.” He told Cameron in an interview that when his film failed, he and his wife were dismayed. The film in question was “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.”
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Bret Dalton starred as Gavin Stone — a star who had gotten into some trouble and whose penance would be to do community service at a local church. After doing a small amount of janitorial work for the church, he quickly auditions for the part of Jesus in the Passion Play and is cast. The rest of the film follows his transformation.
The film’s domestic gross revenue was $2.3 million, per Box Office Mojo.
“Director Dallas Jenkins had high hopes and was very disappointed after he says it tested well. The film produced only $2.3 million at the box office, barely exceeding its $2 million budget,” Sports Illustrated reported.
But shortly after the film failed, Jenkins had a life-changing experience.
His wife turned to the story of Jesus feeding of the five thousand.
As a quick refresher, this is the story where Jesus starts healing people in a large group of people. When the day turns to evening, his disciples say they don’t have enough food to feed the group and the people should go to the village to eat bread. Jesus asks the disciples to bring him the five loaves of bread and two fishes they have and he multiplies it so everyone can eat.
After his wife had read this story, one of Jenkins’ friends said to him, “The following words have changed my life. Remember, Dallas, it’s not your job to feed the five thousand, it’s only to provide the loaves and fish.”
“That concept of we are responsible for the five and two — Jesus could have waved his hand and everyone could have had food in their laps from nothing. But he uses us to participate in the miracle,” Jenkins said to Cameron.
After Jenkins adopted this perspective, his life changed and he said it was the birth of “The Chosen.”
In an earlier interview with the Deseret News, Jenkins said, “I genuinely don’t care about the multitudes. I care about five and two. I care about making sure that the loaves and fish that I make are as good and pleasing to God as they can be. And everything after that is just a bonus.”
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“It allowed me to be open to ridiculous ideas like crowdfunding and making the show free, you know ‘The Chosen’ is free all over the world — that doesn’t make any sense — but we’re on God’s impossible math train now. We’re on the five and two plan now,” Jenkins said to Cameron.
Now Jenkins says he doesn’t care about box-office numbers or awards. “And now all I care about is that if at the end of seven seasons, I kept my integrity, I was surrendered to God in the process, I was a good husband and father, I accurately, as well as I could, portrayed the character and intentions of Jesus in the gospels, that’s success,” Jenkins told the Deseret News in an interview during the spring.
After “The Chosen” completes it seven seasons, Jenkins has hinted he might take on other Bible-related projects. “Hopefully, after I take a nap for about a year when ‘The Chosen’ is done, we’ve got other Bible stories to tell, because the demand seems to be so strong,” Jenkins told media at the K Love Fan Awards.
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When will ‘The Chosen’ Season 4 be released?
“The Chosen” Season 4 finished filming during the summer. It’s expected the fourth season will release in the first quarter of 2024.
Where did they film ‘The Chosen’?
“The Chosen” is filmed in two locations. One is in Midlothian, Texas, at The Salvation Army’s Camp Hoblitzelle. It’s also filmed in Goshen, Utah, on a set owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Where can I watch ‘The Chosen’?
“The Chosen” is available on The Chosen TV app or the Angel app. It’s also on CW every Sunday evening as well as available to watch on Netflix, BYU TV and Roku.
How many seasons of ‘The Chosen’ will there be?
It’s expected there will be seven seasons of “The Chosen.”
