The Chosen Announces Season 4 Streaming Date: ‘Finally,’ Dallas Jenkins Says

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The creator and director of The Chosen revealed on Wednesday the much-anticipated streaming launch date of Season 4 and also provided details of the legal dispute with Angel Studios, saying the two sides had agreed to let an arbitrator decide the matter in order to "solve this in a biblical way."

Season 4 debuted in theaters in February, yet its streaming date was delayed due to a legal issue that creator and director Dallas Jenkins revealed Wednesday involved a disagreement with Angel about a 2022 contract. On Tuesday of this week, Jenkins said, the arbitrator sided with The Chosen. Angel says it will appeal the arbitrator’s decision. 

Episode 1 will debut on The Chosen app and on the series' social media accounts on Sunday (June 2) at 7 p.m. Eastern, while Episode 2 will launch the following Thursday (June 6) at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

"Finally," he said during a livestream. The rest of the episodes will be released over the next month each Sunday and Thursday. Fans who want to binge the episodes can purchase Season 4 on DVD/Blu-ray, Jenkins said.

"The Chosen will continue to be free forever," he said. The Bible-based series has been watched by more than 200 million people worldwide. 

Jenkins also, for the first time, elaborated on the dispute with Angel Studios, the company that launched The Chosen prior to the pandemic. Back then, it was known as VidAngel.

"Neal and Jeffrey Harmon ran VidAngel, and when they heard my idea for the show, they were very emotional," Jenkins said. "And they said, 'We want to do it. And we want this to be our signature show that launches our original content initiatives.' The Harmons were convinced this would be a massive hit. And they predicted it would change the world. Long story short, they were right. Their idea worked."

The first few seasons were crowdfunded.

"We shattered the all-time crowdfunding record with over 16,000 of you investing over $10 million in our company and this show," Jenkins said, addressing fans. "...The Chosen would not have launched without some of the ideas, initiatives, and extraordinary efforts of the Harmon brothers."

The problem, Jenkins said, was that the financial model in use at the time failed to generate sufficient funds for all necessary expenses in order to keep the series free. "It simply wasn't sustainable," he said.

Jenkins said the two sides came to a new agreement in 2022. What happened next is what was at the heart of the legal dispute. Jenkins and those at The Chosen say Angel breached the 2022 contract; Angel disagrees.

"The only way to solve the dispute was to exercise the provision of the contract where we engaged a third-party arbitrator. We wanted to solve this in a biblical way, which was to not make it a public spectacle. Private arbitration was the only way to do this in a way that didn't harm the show or the reputation of Jesus and this project."

He added, "This was not a lawsuit.… Good people can disagree."

On Tuesday, the arbitrator sided with The Chosen. Jenkins said he will "always feel a great sense of appreciation" for what the Harmons "did to help bring this show to the world."

"We love them," he said. "The Chosen's relationship with Angel Studios is effectively over," Jenkins said, holding back tears. "I want to thank Angel and the Harmon brothers for their extraordinary efforts in helping launch this show."

Season 5 is currently being filmed.

Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, released a statement Thursday saying Angel will appeal. 

“The team at Angel Studios is honored to have been instrumental in the founding and unbelievable growth of The Chosen,” Harmon said in a statement. “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. 

“Sadly, The Chosen, Inc. chose to terminate its agreement with us,” Harmon added. “We hope that one day the agreement will be restored -- and we plan to pursue the appeal provision that Angel and The Chosen agreed to as the process for resolving disagreements privately.”

Photo credit: ©TheChosen; used with permission.

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

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