‘The Chosen’ debuts in France on major TV network, on mission to reach billion people worldwide

By Nicole VanDyke, CP Reporter Thursday, December 30, 2021

It's been three years since the series "The Chosen" first premiered and it's been watched over 334 million times worldwide, including more recently in France, where it's now being shown on one of the country's top TV networks. 

Actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the series, told CBN News during an interview in Paris that “the experience of playing Him has made me want to be more like Him.” 

When asked by CBN if he ever pinches himself, realizing the magnitude of the role that he has played as Jesus and how well the show has done, Roumie responded that he strives to remain humble amid the show's massive viewership.

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"I don't know if I pinch myself. I'm more bow my head to the ground because I never feel that I'm worthy of the things that are happening as a result," he said.

Roumie also described what it's like to be part of a show that's working to help fulfill the Great Commission by spreading the Gospel worldwide in multiple languages, leading to a revival. 

“I think it’s already happening, and I think we’re an additional element of that story. I’m just honored to be a part of it,” he added.

Roumie and cast members recently joined 500 Parisians to watch a screening of "The Chosen" at a Paris movie theater. For many in attendance, it was their first time watching the series, CBN reported.

"The intimacy between the disciples and Jesus, I like that very much," one female viewer said.

Another woman who screened the film added: "It was different from other films about Jesus. It was just fantastic, I can say." 

As the first-ever multi-season show about the life of Jesus, “The Chosen,” is available to watch on its free app and is now also being shown on Canal+ in France. 

"To be on a major network is a first," said Katherine Warnock, one of the show's producers. "We love our platform. We love having a free app that's available to the whole world, but to be embraced by Canal Plus has been such an honor."

As The Christian Post previously reported in 2019, "The Chosen" became the No. 1 crowdfunded media project in history, initially reaching $20 million crowdfunding and then surpassed that number by raising over $40 million in funding.

“The Chosen” has 16 episodes that have been translated into 50 different languages. Eventually, the company that manages the distribution of the series, Angel Studios, hopes to reach a billion people worldwide and plans to dub the series in the top 25 most spoken languages worldwide.   

"We can't reach a billion just in English. So to reach a billion, we have to unlock more languages," Jared Geesey of Angel Studios, told CBN. 

Derral Eves, the executive producer of “The Chosen,” told CP in an interview earlier this year that he hopes the series will inspire many more people to have the values that Jesus Christ taught. 

“I truly do believe this show has impact, and it has power,” Eves said. “The world needs ‘The Chosen.’ If there’s ever a time that the world needs Jesus, it’s now — and not just Jesus, an authentic Jesus that people can literally connect with.” 

In a separate interview with CP, the creator and co-writer of “The Chosen,” Dallas Jenkins, said that while he’s “not surprised” by the show’s success, he “wouldn't have been surprised if it never took off at all.” 

“I genuinely was in a posture of, one day at a time, just doing what God wants for me,” Jenkins told CP. 

In the beginning, when the show first premiered, Jenkins said, the primary audience was Christians because that's who was more attracted to a Jesus show.

“But as the buzz has been building, we're hearing all the time from atheists, agnostics, people in the industry — even the friends and family of our casting crews, many of whom are not believers themselves, who just loved the show as a regular show,” Jenkins said. “It's making them think more about who Jesus was and wanting to look more into it.”