The hit streaming show about the life of Christ will mobilize a massive number of people to recreate one of Jesus' most famous miracles.
Already deep into production of its third season, cast and crew of The Chosen will this week tackle far and away their most ambitious scene: Jesus' feeding of the 5,000. As Scripture makes clear, there were "about five thousand men, besides women and children," (Matthew 14:21) meaning the actual number of the crowd was much higher, which will be the case in this production as well: more than 10,000 extras, cast, crew and handlers will take part.
Logistics alone will no doubt require a near army to manage, and recent social media posts from the set show crew members wearing masks, so coronavirus protocols are evidently still in place, meaning there are lots of balls in the air, so to speak, on this one. The complexity of pulling everything together for filming is not lost on show creator/director Dallas Jenkins. In a particularly candid note to supporters asking for prayer, he acknowledges it is "very intimidating" and that he feels "a little overwhelmed."
"I'd appreciate if you could pray for us this coming week as we film the feeding-of-the-5,000 scene. It will be, without question, one of the biggest weeks in the history of The Chosen."
As complicated as this is, it is not the first scene in which Jenkins and the show have deployed mass numbers of extras. In February, 2021, he and his team filmed Jesus' Sermon on the Mount - the beginning of which was the final scene in season two - and that featured more than 2,000 extras.
As we reported then, they also faced brutal wintery conditions on location outside of Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. Weather is yet again a concern, only this time the forecast calls for high temperatures above 90 degrees all week, even possibly pushing 100. Jenkins is asking for prayer support to help him stay on point and for the well-being of all involved.
"Please pray for focus, for safety – especially for protection from what could be brutal heat, which is my biggest fear right now for our guests – and for success in bringing to viewers a life-changing moment in history."
This scene will of course be featured in season three, which Jenkins has previously said he hopes to start releasing before the end of the year. First things first, though, he and his team need to complete production, and Christian Film Blog will continue to bring you updates on that as warranted.