Box office: The Chosen season finale cracks the top ten

After three theatrical releases in 14 months, the crowdfunded life-of-Jesus series has grossed over $33 million in total.

Jesus heals the deaf-mute man in The Chosen S3E7 (‘Ears to Hear’).

The Chosen cracked the top ten at the box office again this week.

The Chosen Season 3: Finale—which consists of two episodes from the end of the crowdfunded life-of-Jesus show’s third season—grossed an estimated $3.6 million this weekend and $5.3 million since coming to theatres on Thursday.

The weekend figure on its own puts The Chosen in a three-way race with M3GAN ($3.8mil) and Missing ($3.7mil) for the #7 spot this week. The Chosen is currently at #9 but the rankings could change when the final figures come out tomorrow.

However, if you count The Chosen’s Thursday grosses towards its weekend figure—the way most major studios count Thursday-night “previews” as part of a movie’s Friday box-office take—The Chosen would clearly be #6 for the weekend.

The Chosen Season 3: Finale was originally advertised as a two-day event, for Thursday and Friday, but shortly before its release it got an extension to Monday.

The late change to the release plans was reflected in the ticket sales: The Chosen was the #1 movie at the box office on Thursday, and it was #4 on Friday, but then it dropped to the bottom end of the top ten on Saturday and Sunday.

Ticket sales were presumably also affected by the fact that the first half of the finale started streaming today—while the weekend grosses were still trickling in—and the second half of the finale will premiere online in a livestream on Tuesday.

The Chosen Season 3: Finale marks the show’s third foray onto the big screen, following Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers—a music special with a bonus episode—in December 2021 and The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 in November 2022.

Including The Messengers’ bonus episode, five of The Chosen’s last nine episodes have now been shown in theatres, and together they have grossed over $33 million.

It’s a remarkable development for a series that began with a short film that was made as part of a church project back in December 2017. A character from that short film returned for a pivotal scene in the episode that began streaming tonight.

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There is, presumably, a lot that could be said about The Chosen’s theatrical releases and how audience turnout at each of those events was affected by the show’s scheduling and marketing—did it matter how much advance notice audiences had? or how long it had been since the last new episode came out? or how soon the show started streaming after its theatrical release?—but I won’t take any stabs at that here.

For reference, though, here are the basic data points:

• Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers — December 1, 2021

  • opened on a Wednesday, $4.2mil weekend, $9.1mil total by Sunday

  • the top-grossing new release of the week, the #4 movie overall

  • opened in 1,700 theatres, earned $2,497 per theatre over the weekend

  • the release date was announced 36 days in advance

  • came out 4½ months after the then-most-recent episode

  • was originally planned as a two-day release, and then got extended

  • began streaming 11 days after its theatrical release

  • grossed at least $13.7mil by the end of its run

• The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 — November 18, 2022

  • opened on a Friday, $8.8mil weekend, $8.8mil total by Sunday

  • the 2nd-highest-grossing new release of the week, the #3 movie overall

  • opened in 2,021 theatres, earned $4,340 per theatre over the weekend

  • the release date was announced 86 days in advance

  • came out 11½ months after the then-most-recent episode

  • was originally planned as a five-day release, and then got extended

  • began streaming 23 days after its theatrical release

  • grossed at least $14.6mil by the end of its run

• The Chosen Season 3: Finale — February 2, 2023

  • opened on a Thursday, $3.6mil weekend, $5.3mil total by Sunday (estimated)

  • the 4th-highest-grossing new release of the week, the #9 movie overall

  • opened in 1,979 theatres, earned $1,840 per theatre over the weekend

  • the release date was announced 18 days in advance

  • came out 2½ weeks after the then-most-recent episode

  • was originally planned as a two-day release, and then got extended

  • began streaming only 3 days after its theatrical release

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And now, with regard to the broader genre: Here is how The Chosen Season 3: Finale currently ranks at the North American box office next to other Bible-themed movies that have played in theatres over the past 44 years (not adjusting for inflation):

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million

• 1998 — The Prince of Egypt — $101.4 million

• 2014 — Noah — $101.2 million

• 2014 — Exodus: Gods and Kings — $65 million

• 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million

• 2017 — The Shack — $57.4 million

• 2009 — Year One — $43.3 million

• 2017 — The Star — $40.9 million

• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million

• 2016 — Risen — $36.9 million

• 1981 — History of the World, Part I — $31.7 million

• 2016 — Hail, Caesar! — $30.5 million

• 2016 — Ben-Hur — $26.4 million

• 2002 — Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie — $25.6 million

• 1979 — Monty Python’s Life of Brian — $20 million

• 2018 — Paul, Apostle of Christ — $17.6 million

• 2022 — The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 — $14.6 million

• 1980 — Wholly Moses! — $14.2 million

• 2021 — Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers — $13.7 Million

• 2006 — One Night with the King — $13.4 million

• 2022 — Redeeming Love — $9.2 million

• 1988 — The Last Temptation of Christ — $8.4 million

• 2016 — The Young Messiah — $6.5 million

• 2023 — The Chosen Season 3: Finale — $5.3 million

• 1985 — King David — $5.1 million

• 2018 — Samson — $4.7 million

• 2003 — The Gospel of John — $4.1 million

• 2014 — The Song — $1.0 million

• 2007 — The Ten Commandments — $952,820

• 2018 — Mary Magdalene — $124,741

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The Chosen interviews:

• Season 1: Dallas Jenkins, co-writer/director (Dec 2019)

• Season 2: Dallas Jenkins, co-writer/director (May 2021) | Derral Eves, producer, on Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers (Nov 2021) | Dallas Jenkins on the ‘The Chosen Is Not Good’ marketing campaign (Apr 2022)

• Season 3: Jordan Walker Ross, Little James (Oct 2022) | Vanessa Benavente, Mother Mary (Nov 2022) | Kirk B.R. Woller, Gaius (Nov 2022)

The Chosen recaps:

• Season 1: review | scripture index
  Episode recaps: The Shepherd | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight

• Season 2: The Messengers review | scripture index
  Episode recaps: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | The Messengers

• Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 notes | Episodes 7 & 8 notes | scripture index
  Episode recaps: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight

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The Chosen can be streamed via Angel Studios or the show’s app (Android | Apple).