"The Chosen" Cast & Crew Film the Crucifixion for Season 6

That comes as Season 5 claims a spot in the Top-10 on Amazon's Prime Video streaming platform.

Crew members prepare to shoot the Crucifixion scene on location in Matera, Italy for Season 6 of "The Chosen." Image: 5&2 Studios/screenshot from YouTube.

Show creator and director Dallas Jenkins and the team of The Chosen are on location in Italy right now shooting Jesus' Crucifixion, a scene that the Christian filmmaker described as "very, very difficult." The challenges are both emotional - reliving the brutality of what happened to Christ on the cross - and practical: they are working with a largely Italian crew and thus facing language issues, dealing with the June heat, and filming on a difficult to access hilltop location that stands in for Golgotha.

Dallas Jenkins (left) discusses a scene with a crew member during filming of Season 6 of "The Chosen" on location in Italy. Image: 5&2 Studios/screenshot from YouTube.

The production is more than three weeks into filming in the town of Matera - that is where the boot of Italy joins the heel, so to speak - in the southern part of the country. It is such a picturesque backdrop, with ancient buildings and hilly terrain, that the location has been used repeatedly for Biblical films going back to the 1960s: the most famous picture being the 2004 blockbuster from Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ.

Jenkins shared the latest update with fans of the global hit show yesterday during a livestream from the Italian town. The 49-year-old husband and father of four described the subject matter in the scenes they are shooting as "weighty;" so much so, in fact, that he also asked for prayer for him and his team.

"Many times, we've just kind of burst into tears - me included - at just being exhausted and being weighed down by the emotions of what we're filming and what we're dealing with. And I think that's a good thing. I think it's where God wants us, in this kind of surrendered, desperate, humble state."

The action in Season 6, the penultimate one of the series, will all take place on the day of the Crucifixion, and the season will consist of seven episodes, not eight like all of the previous ones. Speaking of which, the first two episodes of Season 5 released this week on the American version of Prime Video and have consistently been in the Top-10 on the platform. As Christian Film Blog previously reported, episodes three through five will roll out this coming Sunday, June 22nd.

As for Season 6, the first six episodes are to release sometime in the second half of next year, with the final episode coming out on the silver screen in 2027 as a "global theatrical event." You can find out more via that link above to our earlier article.