The beloved series “The Chosen” has released its third Christmas special, “Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night.” The Christmas special ran through Dec. 17 and featured special guest performances by Andrea and Matteo Bocelli, Zach Williams, Matt Maher, Brandon Lake, the Bonner Family, One Voice Children’s Choir and Joy to the World.
The fictional drama is based on Jesus’ life and His disciples, and the Christmas special mixes “The Shepherd,” the pilot episode of the series, with “The Messenger.” The special features footage filmed by series creator Dallas Jenkins that was part of a church-related project he never anticipated showing beyond the wall of his house of worship.
Jenkins said in an Instagram post announcing the special, “Over six years ago, I made a little short film on my friend’s farm in Illinois. Entitled: ‘The Shepherd.’ It was about the birth of Christ from the perspective of the shepherds, and it was only intended for my church’s Christmas Eve service. It ultimately ended up launching ‘The Chosen.’ A few years later, with many more resources, we did ‘The Messengers,’ a special episode about the birth of Christ from the perspective of Mary and Joseph.”
He added, “This year, I had an interesting idea; what if we combine the two? I didn’t think it would work great, but it might be an interesting experiment. When Amanda and I saw the first rough cut, we were so moved. It does work, and the nativity story took on even more relevance. I can’t wait for you to see it in theaters and ultimately start a new Christmas tradition.” The fourth season of “The Chosen” will be released in theaters starting on Feb. 1, 2024, and subsequently released on a variety of streaming platforms, including the free Chosen app.
The series has received high praise based on its production value and how the scripts follow the lives of Jesus’ disciples based in part on biblical text and fictional storylines added to depict these historical accounts and draw viewers’ interest in learning more about the Savior by cracking open their Bible. Katherine Warnock, vice president of original content, told The Dallas Morning News, “The hope is that the new special reminds viewers of the meaning behind the Christmas season.”
She added, “Our hope is that families, friends, communities will be able to gather and have that time together where they’re like, ‘OK, we’re reminded about what this season is about, and we’re thankful. This is what we need in Hollywood. We need that raw, authentic, gritty, low-production value mixed with the beauty of high-production value. There’s something so human about it. It’s not perfect, but it’s delightful.”