Over 3,500 fans attended The Chosen Insiders Conference in Dallas over the weekend to celebrate the popular film series about the life of Jesus and his first-century followers.
“ChosenCon,” a two-day conference, gathered fans from around the world, some as far as Australia and South Korea, to meet with the cast and crew and hear from the show's creators.
“It was overwhelming and beautiful to see over three thousand people in one room cheering and laughing and celebrating our show. But even better were the countless stories of impact viewers were able to tell us personally,” Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, told Religion News Service.
Thomas Mathew Rodre, 72, from New Jersey also said that "Jesus was using" 'The Chosen' to "bring the good news to millions of people worldwide". Rodre himself became a Christian by watching the show.
At the conference, Jenkins announced to attendees that the show’s fourth season will be released exclusively in cinemas, starting in February, before being released on streaming platforms.
Jenkins also told fans that he believed spiritual attacks on the production operation had increased, the longer the show has been running.
“I think we’ve noticed that as the show has grown, so has the difficulty in the challenged attacks from the enemy. And so during Season 4 it seemed like we just couldn’t ever escape.”
'The Chosen', which has 10 million followers across social media, previously first released its episodes on a free streaming app, adding cinema showings as demand grew.
The beginning of Season 3 grossed $8.75 million on its opening weekend in cinemas, debuting at No. 3 in the US box office.
In 2017, the series became the top crowdfunded media project in history, raising over $11 million from more than 16,000 investors who wanted to see season one made.
The episodes grew in popularity, and expanded to various streaming services, including Prime Video. More recently, American television network 'The CW' secured the broadcast rights for the show.