Angel Studios has filed a new arbitration against The Chosen just as the previous arbitration over Angel’s contract with the show was finally resolved, said Dallas Jenkins during a livestream on Wednesday, June 18.
Jenkins said Angel asked him to collaborate on a statement about the original dispute being resolved, something he would have been happy to do, except that he then learned about Angel’s new arbitration.
“I wanted to give you an update, a little bit of good news, little bit of bad news, or unfortunate news that we’re dealing with right now that I just wanted to keep you informed on,” said Jenkins during the livestream. “So, this is about our relationship with Angel Studios.”
Angel Studios Files New Arbitration Against The Chosen
“The Chosen,” a historical drama based on the life of Jesus Christ, got an unexpected start in 2017 through crowdfunding with the help of Angel Studios and has since seen widespread success, gaining a global audience. The cast and crew are currently filming Season 6, which takes place on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Season 5, “The Chosen: The Last Supper,” was released in theaters in its entirety during the 2025 Easter season and is currently being released on Amazon Prime. The Chosen now has a partnership with Amazon, and after the episodes are out on Prime for 90 days, Season 5 will be available for free on The Chosen app.
One of the unusual qualities of “The Chosen” is that Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creator, director and co-writer, is committed to keeping it free for all to watch, a commitment that poses obvious challenges when it comes to funding the show. Jenkins explained these challenges in-depth in a video on May 29, 2024, where he addressed The Chosen’s disagreement with Angel Studios, a dispute that delayed the release of the Season 4 episodes to streaming.
It was in this video update that Jenkins announced that The Chosen had sought arbitration over its contract with Angel, contending that Angel “breached our contract on multiple occasions.” The director acknowledged that “Angel, of course, disagrees with that assessment.”
Jenkins said that on May 28, 2024, the arbitrator “comprehensively affirmed our position and agreed that the contract had been breached in multiple and material ways, which means that the contract is indeed terminated and The Chosen’s relationship with Angel Studios is effectively over.”
However, Jenkins noted the situation is “still ongoing,” and he could not reveal every detail about it.
Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon responded at the time in a statement. “The team at Angel Studios is honored to have been instrumental in the founding and unbelievable growth of The Chosen,” he said. “Our long hours of hard work over the last 8 years by teams of programmers, marketers, translators, licensing experts, and innovators have helped it become the worldwide success that it is today.”
