By Judy Shields
Photos The Hollywood Times
Ace Theatre, Los Angeles (The Hollywood Times) 01/19/2024 – “This season starts at the beginning of the end,” says Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus. “The most challenging thing for me was the emotional weight we see Jesus bearing this season. In Scripture, we’re familiar with the moment where ‘Jesus wept.’ That couldn’t have been the exception. And so we get to see some of those moments of Jesus wrestling with the complexities of humanity.”
One of the parking lots behind the Ace Hotel/Theatre was transformed into a beautiful teal carpet enclosed under a clear tent, just ready to be filled by the press, professional photographers, The Chosen creative team, cast and fans too. The black carpeted risers for the press and photographers looked amazing next to the teal carpet. In the middle was a raised platform with the a round stone at the tomb with THE CHOSEN Season Four on it.
Once parked in the lot adjacent to the Ace Theatre we were escorted to the back of the theatre to check in and then shown our spot on the teal carpet under the clear tent. I was so excited to see a copy of the TV Guide from last July on the table where the press was checking in. I asked if they were giving them out and the young woman said no and I told her how I had tried so hard to find a copy of it at every store and newsstand in LA with no luck and she asked if I wanted her copy and I said “NO WAY!” She said “yes, you could have my copy if you like.” I got so excited, picked it up and held it next to me like it was a teddy bear! LOL. It truly made her happy and made my night wonderful. Thank you for that special gift.
They had a black carpet with THE CHOSEN Rise Up large backdrops for the fans to stroll across and take photos.
I have to say I’ve been to many premiere carpets in red, blue, orange, purple, white, yellow and now teal, this one goes to the top of my list as one of the best looking and professional ran ever. Thank you to The Chosen for putting together this amazing premiere for so many press, photographers and the best part they even had a raised platform for their fans. The fans truly make these types of premieres great and all premieres should allow the fans. The energy under that clear tent was awesome! I was honored, excited and nervous to be on the teal carpet, mostly because I am a huge fan and just thinking about the possibility to have the actor who portrays Jesus right in front of me and the rest of the cast, excitement and good nerves too. It is a powerful and life changing show!
The creative team and the cast members started to come out onto the teal carpet to do some photos up in front of THE CHOSEN prop, so we all had a chance to shot those shots and then after that they all started to come back out to do the interviews. Enjoy the photos:
Here are still photos of the interview I did with the cast of THE CHOSEN:
My interviews with the creative team of THE CHOSEN, Dallas Jenkins, Ryan Swanson, Tyler Thompson and Mark Sourian:
My interviews with the cast of THE CHOSEN:
Here are a few photos of Dallas Jenkins, Jonathan Roumie during my interview that a videographer kindly took of me on the teal carpet:
Do not miss your opportunity to see THE CHOSEN in your local theatre starting Thursday, February 1st. Click Here link for the Los Angeles area. Once in the site, just put in your zip code and all the theaters close to you will pop up and you can purchase your ticket TODAY for all the upcoming episodes.
Season 4 LA Teal Carpet Premiere for Episodes 1-2 (Jan. 17 @ Ace Theater Los Angeles) for the worldwide hit television series, THE CHOSEN – the groundbreaking historical drama that has become one of the most-watched shows in the world! Its first three seasons have had more than 600 million views from 175 countries (soon to be dubbed in 50 languages with plans to subtitle in more than 600)! THE CHOSEN franchise has exploded, with 2023 streaming numbers up +78 million for this year alone! Talent/cast will include: Dallas Jenkins (Creator/Director), Ryan Swanson (Exec. Prod/Co-Writer), Tyler Thompson (Co-Writer), Mark Sourian (Head of Production), David Amito (John the Baptist), Aalok Mehta (Barnaby), Anne Beyer (Shula), Amy Bailey (Joanna), Brandon Potter (Quintus), Elijah Alexander (Atticus), Ivan Jasso (Yussif), Shaan Sharma (Shmuel), Wasin No’mani (Yanni), Luke Dimyan (Judas), Alaa Safi (Simon the Zealot), Abe Bueno-Jallad (Big James), George H. Xanthis (John), Nick Shakoour (Zebedee), Reza Diako (Phillip), Amber Shana Williams (Tamar), Yasmine Al-Bustami (Ramah), Giavini Cairo (Thaddeus), Jordan Walker Ross (Little James), Paul BenVictor (King Herod), Shereen Khan (Herodias), Joey Vahedi (Thomas), Austin Reed Alleman (Nathanael) Demetrios Troy (Lazarus), Noah James (Andrew), Paras Patel (Matthew), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), Nene Nwoko (Rivka), Nina Leon (Salome), Zhaleh Vossough (Veronica), Andrew Allen (Pilate), and Sarah Bartholomew (Claudia).
More photos of the teal carpet after the interview:
The actual screening of episodes one and two took place in the beautiful Ace Theatre. Once you entered the theatre they had a The Chosen Rise Up set up so the fans could take a photo.
I then headed off to wash my hands and buy some popcorn, bag of chips and boxed water, since I was hungry by this time. Once everyone was in their seats Dallas came out to talk about the making of these two episodes but didn’t give anything away. We were all so excited to see what was in store. The one thing I truly loved about being able to see these two episodes at this event was the fans clapped when they saw the stars on the big screen, they laughed at certain scenes, in which laughter is wonderful medicine. Not sure if the audience at the theater I will go to see these episodes again will have that happen, but guaranteed I will be clapping and laughing! Here are a couple of photos of after the screening when Dallas had the entire crew come up on stage and he also took a selfie to have the fans in the photo. So totally cool!
The Chosen’s Season Three finale was packed with drama and excitement. Jesus miraculously fed a sea of people. He walked on the actual sea. And He single handedly calmed a wild and raging storm. With all that epic excitement, you might expect
smoother sailing in Season Four of The Chosen. Get used to different.
The series enters its most tumultuous season yet as Jesus’ widespread fame and following attract the attention of the religious and political elite—for whom He’s now a rival. As His enemies close in, His followers struggle to keep up, leaving Him to carry the burden alone.
A global phenomenon, and now on The CW as well as streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Netflix, THE CHOSEN is the most successful crowdfunded TV series to date. For the first time ever, the full season of what started out as a streaming-TV show, will be released exclusively in theaters beginning Feb. 1. Watch The Chosen Season 4 teaser trailer HERE which People magazine recently premiered.
THE CHOSEN has become a cultural phenomenon, with more than 10 million social media followers, and over the course of its first three seasons, the series has garnered praise from critics and fans alike for its historical and biblical accuracy, culturally diverse cast, playful spirit, stirring drama, genuine humor, and disruptive impact.
“‘The Chosen’…pulls off a crowd-funded miracle; a hit with a Christian fan base that is breaking into the mainstream.” – The New York Times
“The success of the series is a powerful reminder to Hollywood that faith-focused projects can sometimes become breakthrough hits. But what makes ‘The Chosen’ even more of an outlier, is the way it is supercharging the crowdfunding model to sustain production through multiple seasons.” – The Wall Street Journal
“…the largest fan-supported entertainment project of all time!” – Deadline
The entire Season 4 will be released exclusively in theaters with Episodes 1-3 from February 1-14, 2024, Episodes 4-6 from February 15-28, and Episodes 7-8 from February 29-March 10 in the U.S. and Canada, and Episodes 1-2 will be released in the UK, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, LATAM, and Brazil on various dates via a consortium of distributors. Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are available now, and Season 4 will be available via streams and linear TV at some point after the theatrical run.
All four seasons of The Chosen will be dubbed in more than 50 languages by the end of 2024. The series also has plans to be the most translated series in the world with over 600 languages subbed or dubbed.
Clashing kingdoms. Rival rulers. The enemies of Jesus close in while His followers struggle to keep up, leaving Him to carry the burden alone. Threatened by the reality of Jesus’ growing influence, religious leaders do the unthinkable—ally with their Roman oppressors. As the seeds of betrayal are planted and opposition to Jesus’ message turns violent, He’s left with no alternative but to demand his followers RISE UP.
RELEASE
Season 1 – April 21, 2019
Season 2 – April 4, 2021
Season 3 – November 18, 2022
Season 4 – February 1, 2024.
FEATURING
Jonathan Roumie – Jesus
Shahar Isaac – Simon
Paras Patel – Matthew
Elizabeth Tabish – Mary Magdalene
Noah James – Andrew
George H. Xanthis – John
Abe Martel – Big James
Jordan Walker Ross – Little James
Giavanni Cairo – Thaddeus
Joey Vahedi – Thomas
Alaa Safi – Simon the Zealot
Reza Diako – Philip
Austin Reed Alleman – Nathanael
Vanessa Benavente – Mother Mary
Yasmine Al-Bustami – Ramah
Luke Dimyan – Judas
Lara Silva – Eden
Amber Shana Williams – Tamar
Kirk B.R. Woller – Gaius
Nick Shakoour – Zebedee
Brandon Potter – Quintus
David Amito – John the Baptizer
Demetrios Troy – Lazarus
Paul Ben-Victor – King Herod
Series creator, director, co-writer Dallas Jenkins attributes The Chosen’s success to the book it’s all based on. “I’m always gratified when audiences connect with the show as much as I do. We are working with the greatest source material ever created – our show is exalting of the Bible and we do not waver from it. At the same time, we have the opportunity to fill in the blanks as we create a television show, and we try to do that by bringing our personal experiences with human behavior to show maybe why something happened the way it did. When that kind of emotional storytelling connects, there’s no better feeling.”
ASTONISHING FACTS
● The Chosen is the first multi-season series of its kind: a ground-breaking historical drama about the life of Jesus.
● The Chosen doubled viewership over the last year — over 200 million people have watched at least one episode.
● The Chosen series has 12M total followers across global social media platforms.
● The episodes of The Chosen series have more than 770M views from 175 countries. The first three seasons will soon be dubbed in 50 languages with plans to subtitle or dub in more than 600.
● Jonathan Roumie was invited to the Vatican on two different occasions to speak to the Pope about his role as Jesus.
● The Chosen has incredible brand awareness across 155 million Americans of all types.
● Production of The Chosen Timeline
○ Dec 2017 – Pilot Premieres
○ 2019 – Season 1 made available for purchase
○ 2020 – Season 1 released for free on The Chosen app
○ April 2021 – Season 2 premieres
○ 2021-2022 – Streaming services pick the show up
○ Dec 2021 – Over 1M people saw Christmas With The Chosen: The Messengers in theaters
○ Nov 2022 – Almost 700,000 people watch the Season 3 Premiere in theaters
○ June 2023 – The CW picks up seasons 1-3 in the US
○ July 2023 – The Chosen was granted an interim agreement amid a SAG strike
○ Dec 2023 – Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night was seen by 400K people in theaters
○ February 2024 – Season 4 debuts in theaters
LIONSGATE DISTRIBUTION
Distribution through Lionsgate is accelerating and expanding global licensing of the series on streaming, broadcast, and pay TV. The Chosen and Lionsgate plan to expand to the top platforms in 50 markets by the end of 2024.
THE CHOSEN IS ONE OF THE MOST WATCHED SHOWS IN THE WORLD
The Chosen is consistently a top-performing show on every platform it’s available, including streamers Amazon Prime, Peacock, Netflix, and domestic broadcaster, The CW, as well as in movie theaters and broadcast outlets internationally. The episodes of the series have had more than 770M views from 175 countries. All four seasons of The Chosen will be dubbed in more than 50 languages by the end of 2024.
The series also has plans to be the most translated series in the world with over 600 languages subbed or dubbed. The Chosen episodes and bonus content will always be available for free on The Chosen app.
THE CHOSEN IS A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
Once in a blue moon, a TV series comes along that is a cultural phenomenon. The Chosen has become watercooler talk across the world.
