The Bible-based hit series The Chosen passed 400 million worldwide views during the past month, according to new data from its studio that also shows the project is a viral sensation in other countries, such as Brazil.
As of Thursday, the series had been viewed 405,268,000 times worldwide. Directed by Dallas Jenkins and distributed by Angel Studios, The Chosen is a multi-season television series about the life of Jesus and the disciples.
"You did it! Thank you for getting us that much closer to a billion today," a message on The Chosen Facebook page read.
The series is a global phenomenon. In Brazil last month, the series app entered Apple's Top 10 among the most popular free apps. It has been viewed nearly 70 million times in that country alone, according to data on the Angel Studios website.
On Thursday, the app's community room included messages from viewers in Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, New Zealand and India – all applauding the series.
"It made the Bible come alive in my life," a message from someone in Zambia read.
Here in the United States, The Chosen landed No. 8 in April on Roku's list of searches, according to Variety. It was two spots ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Similar to data on YouTube, the 400 million number represents views, not individual viewers. Angel Studios has a goal of reaching 1 billion people with the series.
Thus far, it has been viewed by 94 million people, according to Angel Studios estimates.
Season 3 of The Chosen is currently being filmed.
Jenkins recently said that the reaction by fans of the show has encouraged him. People, he said, are coming up to him and saying, "The show has completely reignited my faith in Christ. The show has brought me closer to Christ. The show has made me focus less on religion and more on Jesus – and my kids who never watch anything faith-related now want to watch it and [are] loving it."
"God is really doing something immense," Jenkins said. "And the proof that it's God-driven is in the fact that what they're saying is, 'I'm reading my Bible more than ever. I'm praying more than ever, my relationship with Jesus has been reinvigorated more than ever.'
"Every now and then," Jenkins said, "it's good just to be reminded of why we're doing it."
Related:
Angel Studios Announces $100 Million in New Family Content in Alternative to Hollywood
The Chosen Director Dallas Jenkins Addresses 'the LDS Issue' in New Video
Photo courtesy: ©The Chosen/Angel Studios
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
