Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Season 5 of "The Chosen" will focus on Holy Week, highlighting Jesus' final days.
- The season promises intense storytelling with improved production quality, releasing in theaters March.
- Future seasons will explore the crucifixion and resurrection, aiming for emotional depth and authenticity.
SALT LAKE CITY — It's no secret to fans of "The Chosen" (and readers of the Bible) that the upcoming fifth season will cover Holy Week.
Paras Patel, the actor who plays Matthew, said at "The Chosen" Insiders Conference that he never thought the show would grow to be as big as it has gotten.
"It's always blowing my mind," said "It's always blowing expectations. You know, I like to think if Matthew were to track the analytics of what 'The Chosen' could be, he wouldn't even be able to keep up."
Patel said his character Matthew will be doing a lot of writing during Season 5 — "he needs to make sure he documents everything as detailed and as proper as possible."
Though Season 5 of "The Chosen" is still a handful of months away, actors and the show's creator, Dallas Jenkins, have already indicated it'll be intense. Here's what we know about the season and what else the makers of the show have in store.
'The table is set'
What will 'The Chosen' Season 5 be about? Holy Week. Here's how "The Chosen" itself describes the fifth season.
"The table is set. The people of Israel welcome Jesus as king while his disciples anticipate his crowning. But — instead of confronting Rome — he turns the tables on the Jewish religious festival. Their power threatened, the country's religious and political leaders will go to any length to ensure this Passover meal is Jesus' last."
Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus, told The Christian Post that "rubber hits the road at this point. We're in the final days of Jesus's ministry and earthly life." He said he thinks it's the best season of the show yet.
"We show you the joy of worship and the triumph of Jesus coming in as the king of the Jews and the son of David," said Jenkins to USA Today. "But we also take a moment — you see this in the teaser — to get inside Jesus' head and know that it would have been bittersweet." He said Jesus knows what's coming at this moment.
The actress who plays Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth Tabish, said during Season 5, that everything is escalating, especially in a condensed period of time.
"It's going to be heartbreaking," said Tabish at "The Chosen" Insiders Conference. "I think it's going to be challenging to experience, but it's also my favorite story."
Luke Dimyan, the actor who plays Judas, said the cast and crew improved the quality of the show, per the National Catholic Register.
"We even felt it on set — the way we scheduled and we worked — everybody was on their A-game," said Dimyan. "So I think you'll be able to see that on screen, and I think you're really going to like what you see. We put our all into this."
When does 'The Chosen' Season 5 premiere?
"The Chosen" Season 5 will hit theaters before it comes to streaming. It'll be released in theaters in three batches.
In the U.S. and Canada, Episodes 1 to 2 will release on March 27, 2025. It hits theaters around the world starting on April 10.
"I'm possibly more excited to bring Season 5 to the world than any other season we've done," said Jenkins in a release. "Unfortunately, it's not coming until March, but that's because it's such a huge season and requires a ton of work."
The show was filmed in Goshen, Utah, and Midlothian, Texas.
When Jenkins was filming in Utah, he told the Deseret News Utah felt like one of his homes. The show is the first production not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the church has allowed to use its Jerusalem set.
As the show has seen its viewership expand, Jenkins said he's still focused on one thing.
"Whether a hundred people are watching or a million people watching or a hundred million people are watching or whether we have a low budget or a bigger budget, ultimately, we're just trying to tell the truth about what happened 2,000 years ago and introduce people to an authentic Jesus," he said.
Preparing for 'The Chosen' Seasons 6 and 7
Fans of "The Chosen" will have to wait until 2027 and 2028 to see Seasons 6 and 7, but there will be theatrical releases of both seasons focusing on the crucifixion and resurrection.
Jenkins said the writers try to not talk about it too much because they do not want to get ahead of show "otherwise it's going to be too emotional too soon" and he wants to get it right.
While Jenkins hasn't spoken in specific terms about how he plans to depict the crucifixion, he did tell The Hollywood Reporter it would be about the motions.
"In most portrayals, Jesus is on the cross, and you just see a bunch of people weeping and he's being tortured and mocked," said Jenkins to the outlet. "We want to stress Jesus' desire for comfort and connection with his friends and family. And that period of time lasted several hours, which hasn't been portrayed before. We have the time and I have more tools in my tool belt for the crucifixion than other filmmakers had."
