Author: Dave

We wanted a way to bring you Season 4—all of it—for Easter.

Unfortunately, as Dallas recently explained, streaming isn’t an option yet, so instead here’s what we’re thinking—movie marathon!

Over 3 days, we’re showing all 8 episodes at the movies in the US and Canada:

• Ep. 1-3 on Maundy Thursday, March 28
• Ep. 4-6 on Good Friday, March 29
• Ep. 7-8 on Holy Saturday, March 30

AND because we want this to be affordable for you and as many people as you can bring…

…we’ve arranged discounts.

• All 3 movies for $30 at Cinemark
• All 3 for $15 at Marcus Theaters
• Half off through Fandango using the code, THECHOSENSEASON4

You read that right: 50% off through Fandango, but here’s what you need to know.

• Because it’s such a big discount, there’s a limited number of half-off tickets. IF you can afford full price, let’s please save the discount for folks who wouldn’t otherwise be able to go. Like Andrew said in Season 3, “God wants everybody to come to the party.”
• You can only use the discount code once. Regardless of the number of tickets you buy, it can only be applied to one transaction.

Fandango Discount Instructions:

1. Go to Fandango.com or the Fandango mobile app.
2. Select your date, theater, time, and ticket quantity.
3. Sign in or create your free Fandango FanRewards (or enter your email address for guest checkout).
4. Click “Promo Code,” enter the code, THECHOSENSEASON4, and click “Apply”.
5. Complete your purchase and decide how you want to receive your tickets.

For more info…

Like always, you can check your local movie listing or visit  TheChosenRiseUp.com for more details. Hope to see you and your crew there for an amazing weekend-long Easter celebration.

Okay, let’s talk. I won’t sugarcoat it — I do have some unfortunate news about the Season 4 release. But I do ask for a little patience and some grace as I talk you through it, and I ask that you consider watching the whole video before you respond.

These matters are not only vital in the short term regarding Season 4, but they’re significant for the entire future of our company. And it’s very important to me that even if you’re disappointed, you at least understand what’s happening now and in the future.

Thank you in advance for your patience.
Dallas

Other than some of the old Roman emperors themselves—we’re looking at you, Nero—does anyone more powerfully represent the political (and painful) oppression first-century Israel faced than a Roman soldier? So, it’s quite the feat The Chosen’s pulled off in getting a good number of you to care about one of them. Because c’mon—admit it: you’re three seasons in and standing at the doorstep of Season 4, and you’re all in on learning how the story’s going to unfold for a Roman soldier named Gaius. 

We bet you didn’t see that coming when you started the series. But here we are.   

The Man Behind the Soldier

To be fair, a big part of the draw to Gaius is the man who portrays him: Kirk B.R. Woller. Woller and Dallas have worked together for something like 25 years. In fact, Woller’s played a role in almost every project Dallas has done. And you can see why. Whether it’s in his work with The Chosen or in other projects that range from Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report to the The X-Files, he’s not afraid to add quirks and personality to whoever he’s portraying. He speaks a thousand words with an upward twitch at the corner of his mouth or by merely blinking his wide-eyed eyes. And he doesn’t shy away from weaving in emotive twists and turns that catch viewers by surprise and often even moves them in ways unexpected. Simply put: Woller’s become a fan favorite. For real—you should have heard the roar from the audience when he walked out on the stage at The Chosen Insiders Convention in October.    

But back to where we started: the character of Gaius has become a fan favorite, too. And while this is due in no small part to Woller’s work, it’s also because of the work put in by the writers of The Chosen. 

Slaying the Stereotype—and Elevating the Human 

It would have been easy to steer right into the stereotypes many folks have cultivated concerning Roman soldiers—to write every soldier, including Gaius, as some unthinkingly loyal brute for an evil empire, always scowling in the street and itching to swing a sword. But as Woller pointed out when discussing his character at ChosenCon, “Dallas hates stereotypes.” One of the chief goals for all of the writers at The Chosen has been to paint earthy portraits of Jesus, his followers, and the countless others who surrounded him (and them)—and to do so as they remain faithful to the historical accounts that have been handed down to us. And so from the first episode of Season 1, every character a viewer encounters has layer upon layer, because every character is a man or a woman or a child with a backstory filled with experiences that have shaped them for better or for worse (and oftentimes, both). And this includes the ones who were pretty skittish about Jesus. There’s surprising depth to even a Roman soldier, because they’re a human being long before they don the armor and take hold of some title. And that depth demands to be appreciated. 

Which leads us to Gaius…

When you first meet him, he’s in full gear, standing outside of a tax collection booth with the sort of sneer that can only come from contempt for the Jews. But within a handful of scenes, he’s so suddenly protective of a Jewish tax collector named Matthew that you’d think he was Matthew’s father. And just when you’re tempted to think Gaius is nothing more than the puppet of another character, Quintus, the snide and dangerous Roman magistrate in Capernaum and Praetor of Galilee, you spot Gaius turning a bit of a (legal) blind eye to some of what is unfolding with Jesus and his disciples. And there’s more. We’re three seasons in with the guy, and we’ve caught him jovially tying sailor knots with a Jewish fisherman and doling out marriage advice that just so happens to be quite good. 

Even still, The Chosen’s writers have never forgotten that Gaius is a Roman soldier. And so there are still scenes in which he shows flashes of rage, where he isn’t above lying, where he makes things harder for Jesus and his disciples than they need to be. And, well, for those of you who have watched, you know that there’s quite the twist to his story in Season 3. 

This rollercoaster of a journey with Gaius through the first three seasons The Chosen has left many a viewer asking, “Is Gaius a good guy or a bad guy?” Which is great. Because it means the writers of The Chosen have successfully done what they set out to do: they’ve introduced you to an intricate someone who is trying to figure out what on earth to do with Jesus, with the world around him, and even what to do about what’s unfolding in his own home. 

And in answer to that question—“Is Gaius a good guy or a bad guy”—he’s a human being.

We know that conversation around the table at Thanksgiving is usually reserved for whatever brings peace and goodwill, like, say, politics. But this Thanksgiving, why not stir things up a bit? Get a little disruptive. It’s not all that hard. All you have to do is talk about a choice scene from The Chosen—and in this article, we’ve given you two (a double serving) that ought to get the job done.

But one quick suggestion first: this will be most effective if you clear out the family heirloom centerpiece that was hand-crafted by your great-great-great grandma and replace it with a TV, so that you can actually play the scenes for your family. (Boom. Already disruptive.)      

Conversation Starter #1

Remember that scene in Season 1 when it becomes quite clear Andrew has not been given the spiritual gift of dancing? And Simon asks Jesus to fix it by way of a miracle? Jesus’s response? “Some things even I cannot do.” Here’s the scene, because don’t forget—that TV is gonna be smack dab in the middle of your table, so you can totally show it:

Now, you’ve got two options on where you go with this one. First of all, people do not like a joking Jesus. They want him stoic and stuffy. So, you could just show the scene, and once you’ve stifled your own laughter, say, “Man, I love how The Chosen shows Jesus telling jokes. Because you know he did. Right, guys? Right? Guys?” 

Or you could go another direction entirely. Maybe your family is totally fine with a joking Jesus, but you know they would not be fine with any jokes about his omnipotence (which is a fancy term for “all-encompassing power”). Show the scene and say, “Oh man, I love how they joke that Jesus is powerful enough to turn water into wine, but he can’t possibly help Andrew pull off the Electric Slide.” The theological debate will be so intense, you could easily slip away and steal the absolute best piece of pie before anyone else can.

Conversation Starter #2

Chances are, even if the rest of your family hasn’t watched The Chosen, they’ve probably seen a scene or two involving Mary Magdalene, which means they probably know a thing or two about her story. But you might have to prep them. Something like:

“The Chosen takes seriously that little note in the Gospels that Mary had to have seven demons driven out of her. And this made them wonder if someone that wrecked by demons might have been driven to drinking. So they imagined that struggle into her story.” 

Now, that alone might be enough disruption, because we get a lot of flack for our imagination, as careful as we are with it. But the part of Mary’s story in The Chosen that really got folks worked up was when we had her backslide in Season 2. Not only did we imagine her struggling with alcohol before she encountered Jesus; we imagined her struggling with alcohol after she encountered Jesus. You should show everyone the clip below. On that TV. That’s in the middle of your Thanksgiving feast.

Folks did not like this. Because if we’re all honest, we sort of like our spiritual heroes to take a turn toward the perfect and then stay in that lane. So, give a little backstory on Mary Mags, show the clip, and then say something like, “Anyone have any thoughts on The Chosen making her a bit of a backslider?” Good times.

Anyway, you just go on and give either option above a try, and we think it’s safe to say this’ll be a Thanksgiving to remember. Because it’s gonna feel like the Fourth of July, what with all the fireworks.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: what’s Tuesday and teal all over?

Oh. Okay. You have heard it. Anyway. Yes. It’s Teal Tuesday. And this year’s Teal Tuesday is Tuesday, November 21, from 4pm to midnight.          

Given that you knew we were talking about Teal Tuesday from the very first sentence, you probably know what on earth it is. But let’s make sure we’re alllll on the same page: Teal Tuesday is our Black Friday. And we’re not gonna argue with you if you want to declare it better than Black Friday. It’s certainly first in line. And hey—speaking of lines—for this, there aren’t any you have to elbow your way through at 5am. Nice, eh? But it’s even nicer than that, because here’s what else you can expect:               

• A wild, packed-with-surprises 8-hour livestream hosted by Chosen co-founder, Derral Eves, and Chosen Insiders, Chris and Jalein—and available on all our platforms: YouTube, Facebook and The Chosen app
• A 20 percent discount on all the gifts in our gift store (and by “all” we mean ALL)
• Pop-in visits from cast members of The Chosen
• Did you read that last one? pop-in visits from cast members of The Chosen
• Gift giveaways every hour on the hour—and one very big giveaway at the end 

C’mon. That’s great. And something that great is totally worthy of you grabbing your calendar right now and writing “Teal Tuesday, 4pm-midnight” in that little square marked “November 21.” And oh, man: write it in teal. How meta is that?

See you Tuesday.

Some things just go together. Rhythm and blues. Oreos and milk. Fall and football. Hugs and kisses. And how about The Shepherd and The Messengers? You know—the two Chosen Christmas specials? Of course they go together. But here’s the thing: they’ve actually never been together. Until now.

Call it regifting if you like, but we’ve taken these episodes from Christmas past and woven them together (wreath-like) into your Christmas present. Freshly recut and remastered, the two are now one seamless story about the birth of Jesus—Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night. And they’re coming to a theater near you this holiday season.

Combining the best of old and new, we’ve also worked in six of your favorite musical performances from the past, leading to a first-time-ever performance by Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo.

Want to peel back the wrapping paper and take an early peek? Here you go:

Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night hits theaters for a limited run December 12-17. Tickets are available now at Fathom Events.

Merry Christmas!