Lionsgate chooses to sell crowdsourced drama The Chosen worldwide

The Chosen is in production on its fourth season

US studio Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution rights to all seasons of The Chosen, the crowdsourced religious drama about the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of his followers.

From creator, director and producer Dallas Jenkins, the series is currently in production on its fourth season, starring Jonathan Roumie in the lead role.

Lionsgate described the series as “groundbreaking,” having grown from a crowdsourced project into a multi-season show with over 110 million viewers in 175 countries.

Seasons one and two are available on Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video, while the first season is on Netflix. The series has aired in France on Canal+, the Netherlands on NPO, Spain on Movistar and Poland on TVP.

All seasons are available for free in The Chosen mobile and TV apps. Viewer support through tax-deductible donations has helped fund production, making it one of the largest fan-supported entertainment projects of all time.

According to Lionsgate, the series has 6.5 million followers across social media, comparable to many of the biggest shows on television, and has made US$35m at the box office in special event theatrical releases.

It is one of the five most searched shows on Roku, and it has generated apparel, books, DVDs and an upcoming series of graphic novels. Roumie has also been invited to the Vatican twice to speak with Pope Francis about his role as Jesus.

The series began as a short film, titled The Shepherd, which Jenkins shot on a farm in Illinois. It showed the birth of Jesus through the eyes of a shepherd with a disability and went viral globally with tens of millions of views.

The Come & See Foundation will retain and manage licensing rights for all activities within the non-profit sector for The Chosen. The organisation is responsible for translating the series into hundreds of languages.

Jenkins and Roumie are represented by UTA. The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by Christopher Davis and Daniel Taylor.