Releasing episodes of a television series in a movie theater doesn鈥檛 sound like a viable business plan but it has been key to the success of 鈥淭he Chosen,鈥 a look at the life of Jesus.
鈥淧eople really love to watch it together,鈥 says writer/director/producer Dallas Jenkins. 鈥淪eeing a television show on the big screen gives it more impact.鈥
As the story progresses, the film鈥檚 scope gets bigger, he says. 鈥淲hen we first started the show, the story was centered in Capernaum, a small town. Jesus鈥檚 ministry was small. And then, as the ministry grew and his impact grew, the story got bigger and so did the show. So that by the time we鈥檙e at season five and we鈥檙e at Holy Week鈥he show demands to be seen on the big screen.鈥
The latest installment, 鈥淭he Last Supper,鈥 premieres in theaters in March. 鈥淲e are simply following what the audience is demanding,鈥 Jenkins says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to catch up.鈥
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Dallas Jenkins, left, directs Jonathan Roumie in a scene from "The Chosen."聽
The series, which airs on Amazon Prime, is slated to run seven years. It had humble beginnings, however, at a church in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
Jenkins was producing a film for a Good Friday service and was looking for actors who could tell Jesus鈥檚 story from outsiders鈥 viewpoints. 鈥淛esus wasn鈥檛 the main character of the story, and I realized I had seen all the good actors before I cast Jesus. I鈥檓 like, 鈥業 don鈥檛 have a Jesus.鈥欌
Jonathan Roumie, who had auditioned to play one of the thieves 鈥渨as fantastic.鈥 Jenkins asked him to audition for Jesus 鈥 who鈥檚 only seen in the last five minutes of the story 鈥 and 10 seconds into the reading, 鈥淚 thought he鈥檚 perfect for the show. He auditioned for a different role鈥nd the rest is history.鈥
Now in the fifth season of the movie/television hybrid, Jenkins is changing the face of faith-based productions. 鈥淭he history of faith-based films and television isn鈥檛 a great one,鈥 he says. Largely, that鈥檚 because so many producers 鈥渨ere so passionate about the message they didn鈥檛 care about good filmmaking.鈥
Jonathan Roumie signed on to play Jesus in聽鈥淭he Chosen鈥 鈥渁nd here we are, five seasons later, a global smash and about to film our sixth season.鈥
Influenced by shows like 鈥淭he West Wing,鈥 鈥淭he Wire鈥 and 鈥淔riday Night Lights,鈥 Jenkins wanted to craft 鈥淭he Chosen鈥 into something that didn鈥檛 feel like a church presentation. 鈥淚t feels like a normal television show about the first century and the most influential man who has ever lived,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really cool to see people say that the relationships, the intimacy of the show is what鈥檚 bringing them to want to watch so much of it. It feels different from what they expected and, yet, I think that鈥檚 also the secret sauce of why the show has grown.鈥
Fans in China (where it hadn鈥檛 been translated yet) told Jenkins they loved the show and couldn鈥檛 wait to watch the next episode. 鈥淓ven though they didn鈥檛 understand the words, they were still impacted. It鈥檚 reaching people I never thought the show could reach.鈥
When he got to this season鈥檚 part of the story 鈥 the Last Supper 鈥 Jenkins wanted to make sure it wasn鈥檛 too reverential. 鈥淚 wanted you to see the people come down from the stained glass windows and come out of this painting by DaVinci and remember they were Jewish men eating unleavened bread and honoring Passover and hearing things they didn鈥檛 understand. By making it personal, intimate (and) relational, the impact is that much more.鈥
The Jesus 鈥淭he Chosen鈥 portrays isn鈥檛 necessarily a rock star but someone 鈥渨ho was free of the artifice, free of the presentation, free of the formality and, yes, free of the politics and the religion that sometimes our groups have become,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy for all human beings, regardless of your faith or your political background or your lack thereof, to sometimes accept and receive or reject teachings of Jesus based on what suits you or what鈥檚 going to allow you to seed the world through your own prism.鈥
Jesus, Jenkins adds, wasn鈥檛 the 鈥渓ove and peace hippie鈥 some assume, but someone who 鈥渟poke truth to power. It was all kinds of people who needed to hear this message. That鈥檚 true on both sides of the political aisle.
鈥淎nytime we are starting to use Jesus鈥檚 words or the Bible as a weapon to enact our own personal or political viewpoint鈥s a very wrong instinct.鈥
