A new season of The Chosen is coming soon

If you enjoyed the first three seasons of  the docu-drama The Chosen, chances are you’re eagerly awaiting the release of Season Four. Cast members are excited for the next season, as well.

And, apparently, you won’t have to wait much longer. Studio executives met with reporters last week, sharing news about the successful worldwide distribution efforts, about the roll out of the upcoming season, and about other projects which are currently in development.

Katherine Warnock, The Chosen‘s vice president of original content, is proud of the studio’s many successes, including registration for the weekend’s Chosen Insiders Conference, called ChosenCon, which invited fans to spend the whole weekend with the cast and crew, either in person or from the comfort of their own couch. Registration for the in-person ChosenCon event on October 14-15, dubbed “the ultimate backstage pass,” reached full capacity of 3,500 in only 36 hours. “Our hope will be to carry this on for many years to come,” Warnock reported, adding that several thousand others would participate in ChosenCon virtually.

Warnock also revealed that The Chosen will be releasing a Christmas film in theaters on December 12th. The film combines two earlier projects: The Messengers (the story of the angels who appeared to Mary and to Joseph) and The Shepherd, a dramatic short film about the birth of Jesus. It will incorporate seven different musical acts, including beloved tenor Andrea Bocelli’s presentation of “O Holy Night” in French and other presentations by Bocelli with his son Mateo. Ticket sales for the new Christmas film will go on sale November 20th.

As for the popular series The Chosen, Season Three recently launched in theaters in Brazil, drawing high numbers and widespread acclaim. Warnock predicted that, following the highly successful premiere in Brazil, they could expect their release of Season Four to be just as popular.

And Season Three, already available on some streaming services, has just launched on Amazon Prime, further boosting its sizable audience.

The first episode of Season Four of The Chosen will be released theatrically on January 17, 2024, in Los Angeles, and will then open to audiences in theatrical premieres in the U.K., Poland, Miami, and Brazil. Warnock added that the decision to release the opening episodes in theaters was actually made by the fans themselves. “Our fans,” Warnock said, “really loved the experience last year of being able to go and watch episodes in theaters. We felt like we wanted to give fans even more of that experience.”

And it’s not only the fans who are enthusiastic about The Chosen. Katherine Warnock reported that many of their cast are not Christians, but that they are taking this historic show seriously. For example, Nick Shakoour–who plays Zebedee, father of James and John, in the series–revealed recently that he’d converted to Christianity. He had grown up in a Christian environment, he told Michael Foust of Christian Headlines, but had never experienced a personal conversion. Then, on the set of The Chosen, he was influenced by the “behind-the-scenes people who are Believers” and by their friends. Through them, Shakoour began to seek out God. In September 2022, Shakoour was invited to a church conference where he experienced the presence of God in a new way.

The series’ construction workers, too, have been influenced in a positive way by the gospel story. Nick Shakoour shared a behind-the-scenes story: The construction team, he reported, had written Bible verses on the walls of the sets before they painted them. Perhaps not surprisingly, the first Chosen home in which they wrote Bible verses was that of Zebedee himself. Shakoour reported that the crew had gathered in prayer for one of the actors to receive the Holy Spirit, so that he might become the seed that would spread the gospel. “It’s been one mind-blowing thing after the next,” Shakoour said, “with what’s been happening in and outside of the show.”

What’s the status of Season Four at this time? Mark Sourian, president of production, told the reporters gathered via Zoom that series creator Dallas Jenkins couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming season. “He’s deep into editing,” Sourian said, “He’s really hard on himself! He’s got this look on his face like he’s got something really special.”

This season marks a turning point, according to Sourian. In the first season, Jesus and his disciples faced obstacles, real challenges. There were enemies which they had to confront, and these enemies came from a world that was alien to the disciples. But as the season progressed, it was critical to Dallas that the production achieve a balance: maintaining the sense of the spectacular while at the same time protecting the sense of intimacy of the characters.

Energized by their past successes, the team plans to begin filming Season Five in the spring of 2024. Like Season Four, which will be offered in theaters through the month of February and into March, the entire fifth season will be featured first on the big screen, then later made available for viewing on the Chosen app and through multiple streaming services.

Their goal as they continue to create seven seasons of content, team members said, is to be one of the most-watched television shows ever. They also aspire to be the most translated show, with more than 50 dubbed translations available at this point. And, of course, the most important goal of their content is to introduce people to Jesus, and to draw them closer to him.

• Watch trailer for Season 4 of The Chosen: