Those behind this multi-season series about the life of Jesus target a staggering one billion views.
The Chosen, produced in conjunction with the VidAngel streaming platform, is designed to run seven or eight seasons and tell the entire Gospel story of Jesus' earthly ministry. Creator and director, Dallas Jenkins and his team released the second half of the inaugural season two weeks ago and the show seems to be spreading like wildfire, having already been viewed 1.5 million times in 142 countries.
But according to VidAngel CEO Neal Harmon, that's nothing compared to the ultimate goal of the program: they are aiming to beat the all-time record for views set by HBO's Game of Thrones, which is more than one billion...yes, billion with a "B." And that is not just idle chatter. Harmon, Jenkins and their partners are laying the ground work to reach that ambitious target, including currently translating the show into 52 languages.
Besides, The Chosen has already demonstrated the power of its following, having raised more than $10 million from 16,000 people - which makes it the number one crowd-funding media project ever - so it has tremendous support among Believers. Harmon and VidAngel have come up with a way to further tap into that generosity in an effort to make the program accessible to people outside of America who might otherwise not be able to afford to watch it.
"After a couple of years of testing, and a bit of inspiration, our new app has a special feature called "Pay It Forward" in which you can send the series to other people around the world."
With a mechanism like that in place, the goal of one billion views may not prove to be as unfathomable as it initially seems. And let us not forget, this is the story of Jesus Christ we're talking about here, so the show has a colossal, built-in global audience. Plus Dallas Jenkins and his cast and crew do a top-notch job in these first eight episodes, meaning audiences won't be disappointed.
Christian Film Blog is a big fan of the program and our review is available here. If you have not yet seen the show, you can find it via this link to its website, or by downloading The Chosen app at Apple's App Store or Google Play. You will also be able to take part in the aforementioned "Pay It Forward" option there to allow others to watch.