‘The Chosen’ Season 3 Grosses Over $8 Million Opening Weekend, Coming in 3rd at the Box Office

The first two episodes of Season 3 of “The Chosen” had a strong debut in theaters Friday, Nov. 18. The hit series portraying the life of Jesus ranked third for how much money it grossed over the weekend, coming in behind “The Menu,” which also debuted Nov. 18 and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” released Nov. 11.

“For the second year in a row, ‘The Chosen’ is capturing the imagination of moviegoers around the country,” said Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, which distributes the series. 

“The theme of Season 3 is ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,'” said Dallas Jenkins, the series’ director and creator, in a press release. “The honeymoon phase is over, now the characters all have to deal with the costs and occasional confusions of following the Messiah.”

‘The Chosen’ Positioned To Set New Record

“The Chosen,” which launched in 2019, bills itself as the “first-ever multi-season series about the life of Christ.” It is crowdfunded and free for viewers to stream through The Chosen app. 

According to Box Office Mojo, “The Chosen” made $8,219,762 over the weekend, doubling what December 2021’s “Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers” made during its opening weekend ($4.28 million). A press release from the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) puts this number at $8.75 million. Black comedy horror film “The Menu” grossed $9 million, and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” grossed $67.3 million. 

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“The Chosen” Season 3 episodes beat Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s “Black Adam,” which came in fourth at $4.4 million, and another new release, “She Said,” which had a weak premiere at $2.2 million.

“Christmas with the Chosen,” which debuted Dec. 1, 2021, made a total of $13.7 million during its 12-day run time. The newest episodes from the series, which were originally set to run for five days, are well on their way to breaking that record. According to the EPA, because of their promising debut, the episodes will now stay in theaters through Dec. 1. 

“The Chosen” faced controversy recently after the release of the trailer for Season 3. Some believe that a line in the trailer where Jesus says, “I am the law of Moses,” references The Book of Mormon. The series has previously faced criticism over allegations that it is produced by Mormons. This claim, which is not true, arose in part because the show’s distributor, Angel Studios, was co-founded by brothers who are part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.