The trailer for Season 3 of the Bible-based series The Chosen launched on Monday and quickly rose to No. 1 on YouTube's trending list, with nearly 1 million views in its first 24 hours.
"Whoa!" director Dallas Jenkins wrote on Facebook.
The trailer reveals multiple scenes from the new season, including Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount and feeding the 5,000.
The first two episodes from the series debut in theaters on November 18 before transitioning to The Chosen app in December. The series is free to watch on the app.
Scheduled for seven seasons, the series tells the story of Jesus and the disciples. It is crowdfunded and has been viewed by an estimated 94.8 million people worldwide.
"The stakes are a lot higher this season," Giavani Cairo, who portrays Thaddeus, told Christian Headlines. "And the disciples are faced with a lot of obstacles they were not faced with before while following Jesus that we really get into in Season 3."
The runtime of the November 18 film is two hours and four minutes, according to The Chosen website. It will be in roughly 1,525 theaters.
Last year the holiday-themed Christmas with the Chosen grossed more than $14 million during its run – a record for its distributor, Fathom – and also broke the Fathom record for out-of-the-gate ticket sales (for the first 12 hours).
"The Christmas special showed us that we do have a place in the theatrical realm," said Katherine Warnock, head of original content for The Chosen. "We did not expect the Christmas special to perform to the degree that it did."
Groups of 25 or more can purchase tickets for the new Chosen movie beginning October 18. Individual tickets go on sale on October 25. Visit TheChosenTickets.com. The film is not yet rated. The Chosen website says of the movie's content, "We recommend parental guidance. However, if you're comfortable with what you've seen on The Chosen so far, it's likely you'll be fine with the Season 3 premiere of episodes 1 and 2 playing in the theaters."
Related:
'The Chosen' to Launch Season 3 in Theaters November 18: 'We Are Excited'
Photo courtesy: ©The Chosen, used with permission.
Video courtesy: ©The Chosen
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.
