How "The Chosen" Spurred a Golden Age of Christian Filmmaking

A crowdfunded gospel becomes an industry blueprint

Dallas Jenkins's "The Chosen" — once a $10 million crowdfunded experiment streamed behind a paywall on a Utah-based filtering app — has become the biggest crowdfunded television project in history and the gravitational center of a faith-entertainment boom.newyorker More than 300 million people in over 175 countries have watched the show, racking up nearly a billion episode views, with Season 6 alone drawing more than $70 million in donations.newyorker +1 What began as a niche project for evangelical Bible-study groups has now drafted "House of David," "The King of Kings," "David," "Ruth & Boaz" and a coming Mel Gibson "Passion" sequel into its wake.newyorker +1

A new economic model Hollywood is studying

"The Chosen" proved that an "affinity audience" — devoted, evangelizing, willing to pay before a frame is shot — can rival a wide release. The Season 5 theatrical run, "The Last Supper," grossed more than $35 million and pushed the franchise past $140 million in global box office.newyorker +1 Angel Studios, which distributed the early seasons before a bitter split with Jenkins, went public in 2025 at a $1.6 billion valuation and now runs an Angel Guild of more than two million members who vote on which projects get greenlit, generating $209 million in revenue last year.newyorker "If you can identify a niche that you can overserve that feels underserved in the market, then you can have a successful business," Puck co-founder Matt Belloni said, comparing the model to horror and anime.newyorker Jason Blum of Blumhouse is a seed investor in Wonder Project, the Erwin/Netflix-veteran venture behind "House of David," which has now spun up its own faith-and-values subscription tier inside Prime Video.newyorker +1

The pipeline keeps widening

Amazon MGM signed an exclusive U.S. streaming and first-look deal with Jenkins's 5&2 Studios last year, and Prime Video will debut Season 6 on November 15, 2026, with the finale released in theaters.deseret Netflix has added "Mary" and Tyler Perry's "Ruth & Boaz"; Fox Nation is running Martin Scorsese's "The Saints" docuseries; Angel's animated "David" opened to a record $22 million in December, the largest faith-based animated debut ever, behind original music from Phil Wickham.deseret +2 Jenkins is already mapping spinoffs on Joseph, Moses ("a reluctant Tony Soprano," he says) and the Book of Acts.newyorker +1

The limits of the affinity-audience playbook

The model has friction points. When fans spotted a small Pride flag on a crew member's camera in 2023, conservative commentators called for a boycott; Jenkins defended the cameraman but reiterated a "Biblical viewpoint of sexuality."newyorker Angel's "Sketch," a Tony Hale family film, underperformed after some Guild members called its fantasy elements "demonic" — a sign, marketer Ash Greyson said, that going public has pulled Angel "too Hollywood" for its base.newyorker And Jenkins's split from Angel, now in arbitration's wake after a $2.6 billion counterclaim, underscored how quickly the crowdfunded coalition can fracture.newyorker Still, with Amanda Jenkins undergoing cancer treatment and the Crucifixion arc filmed in Matera over ten-hour Italian shoot days, the show's creators are betting the final two seasons will cement what Jenkins calls a "Chosen extended universe" — and a template the rest of the industry is now openly copying.newyorker +1