‘The Chosen’ season 3 finale to be released in theaters; fans crash website in rush for tickets
Fans of “The Chosen” crashed the Fathom Events website on Sunday after the series creator announced that the season 3 finale would be released in movie theaters on select dates.
“The Chosen” creator Dallas Jenkins revealed Sunday night that the final two episodes of season 3 will be in theaters at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3. Following the announcement, fans rushed to the site to buy tickets, causing it to crash.
Season 3 of the series has broken records by having the “most interaction” from any other season in the past, according to a statement from “The Chosen.” Now the show is bringing people back to the theaters to catch the final episodes, 7 and 8.
During “The Chosen” Livestream on Sunday night, Jenkins said the finale will showcase the feeding of the 5,000. "These are huge episodes," the director added.
Following Jenkins' announcement, "The Chosen" Facebook page revealed that “the demand for tickets for the season finale crashed the Fathom Events website.”
“It is now working again, so you can get tickets for Eps 7/8 at Fathom or your usual ticketing sites,” the post added.
Season 3 will end the way the series began. Back in November, episodes 1 and 2 premiered in theaters. The premiere was so successful more theaters were added, and now they hope to keep that momentum going.
Jenkins highlighted three factors that led to the series heading back to a theatrical release, saying, "Theaters have demanded it, fans are demanding it," and he believes the story demands it.
"Because of the success of the Christmas special last year, theaters are saying, 'We want 'The Chosen' in our theater,'" Jenkins added. "... They're saying, 'Please release as many episodes as you can in theaters.'"
For fans who cannot watch the finale in theaters, the final episodes will be available to stream on the "The Chosen" app on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7.
The Christian Post visited the set for season 3 while it was still in production.
Jenkins, son of the respected Christian author Jerry Jenkins of the Left Behind book series, has worked diligently to make "The Chosen" a success.
The series focuses on the lives of those who closely followed Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. The creator told CP he wanted to showcase that human tension in the third season.
Jenkins said the show has two missions:
"We do have a ministry and a mission and a calling to bring Jesus to the world. I want to introduce or reinvigorate people's passion for Jesus. But at the same time, I can't be responsible for that. When I sit in front of a blank computer screen or working with my co-writers on the scripts, or when I'm on set and creating a new scene from scratch, I can't be actually thinking about the viewer overseas. I can't be thinking about trying to please viewers or trying to avoid criticism. I have to be focused on making the best show that I possibly can," he told CP at the time.
"The mission part of it, yes, I'm doing this because I have a mission to introduce Jesus to as many people as possible, but the number of people, the number of viewers, the level of criticism or praise that it gets, the impact that it has, I can't be focused on that," Jenkins said.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: [email protected] She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic