Over the past two decades, the television series has become one of the most popular and innovative of audiovisual genres. It should come as no surprise, then, that some have had the (good) idea to bring the life of Jesus to the small screen. The series The Chosen has already run for two seasons, the first of which aired in 2019 and the second in 2021 and season three is scheduled for release in December 2022.
Among the truly remarkable features of this series is that it is a project completely independent from the big studios and backed entirely by crowdfunding. The series is fully accessible worldwide via the internet and a dedicated app. It can thus be easily viewed by a very wide range of people.
The series was conceived within an explicitly Christian framework with an approach that is intended to be ecumenical. Writer and director Dallas Jenkins is an Evangelical, but the actor who plays Jesus, Jonathan Roumie, is a Catholic. The private French channel C8 decided to broadcast the first season from December 20 and 27, 2021, and for the occasion the lead actor traveled to France. The launch in France was promoted by both Catholic and Protestant circles and considered an opportunity for evangelization.
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