“The Chosen” announces the premiere of the fourth season and parts ways with Angel Studios

After months of delays and legal wrangling, the first episode of the fourth season of “The Chosen” will appear on the series app at 7 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 2.

“The wait is finally over. People who saw season four in theaters responded that it was our best season yet, so I can’t wait to share it with the world for free and easily,” Dallas Jenkins, creator, producer and director of the series, said in a Wednesday press release of the hugely popular series television about the life of Jesus.

Jenkins first announced the pause of the fourth season on the app in early March, citing legal issues as the reason for the delay. The season premiered in theaters in February 2024, and after the delay was announced, all eight episodes were released in theaters during Easter week at a discounted price. “The Chosen” will release two new episodes per week on the app through June, on Sundays and Thursdays. Jenkins said DVDs of the fourth season are also available for sale, allowing viewers to watch all eight episodes at once.

The legal dispute causing the delay involved The Chosen LLC, a company that currently employs 65 full-time employees, and its former partner Angel Studios, a media company based in Provo, Utah. While Angel Studios — which was also behind the 2023 Christian thriller “Sound of Freedom,” which grossed more than $250 million at the box office — was initially responsible for the original distribution of the series, “that is no longer true,” Jenkins told Religion News Service in an interview on May 21.

Jenkins said The Chosen LLC and Angel Studios had “different ideas on how to interpret both the contract and what would provide us with stability going forward.” Ultimately, he said, the pay-forward model pioneered at Angel Studios won’t allow “The Chosen” to achieve its goals of reaching a billion people – including those who can’t pay for it – while still financing future seasons, Jenkins said.

In a video announcement posted Wednesday, he said about 40% of the contributions donated went to The Chosen LLC. The rest, he said, went to marketing and Angel Studios.

“Our strong assessment is that in order for us to be sustainable in the future and be able to not only generate revenue for the money already spent, but also in future seasons, we need to find a new path and find a new form of partner,” Jenkins said in an interview with RNS before the release arbitration decision.

To secure the show’s financial future, Jenkins said, The Chosen LLC has entered into a new deal with Angel Studios in 2022 that includes the Come and See Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose donations go directly to marketing, production and international translations of “The The Chosen One.” The new deal also transformed the old Chosen app into the Angel app and created a new Chosen app dedicated exclusively to “The Chosen Ones.” The new seasons will premiere simultaneously on the Angel and Chosen apps and will then be released elsewhere.

Jenkins said in the recording that The Chosen LLC claims that shortly after entering into the agreement, Angel Studios “repeatedly breached our agreement to the point that we believe it should be terminated.” Jenkins did not provide details of the alleged violations. According to documents filed by Angel Studios with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in October 2022, Angel Studios entered into a new content licensing agreement with The Chosen LLC, and The Chosen LLC filed to terminate the agreement due to “alleged material breach of the agreement ” in April 2023 and again in October 2023.

“Revenue recognized for the years ended December 31, 2023, December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and resulting from the Selected Agreement amounted to $40 million, $68 million and $116 million, respectively,” according to Angel Studio. “We strongly dispute any such alleged material violations and intend to vigorously defend our interests in this matter.”

Ultimately, The Chosen LLC and Angel Studios retained an outside arbitrator to resolve the dispute, and on Tuesday, the arbitrator agreed with The Chosen LLC that Jenkins believed the contract had been breached.

“The contract has indeed been terminated and The Chosen’s relationship with Angel Studios has effectively ended,” Jenkins announced in Wednesday’s video.

He added that the situation is “ongoing,” but in the near future the fourth season of “The Chosen” will be available exclusively on the Chosen app, and not on both the Chosen app and the Angel app before being made available on other platforms. The arbitration did not affect Lionsgate, which distributes “The Chosen” to third parties such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Peacock.

Jenkins noted that Angel Studios and The Chosen LLC initially tried to settle the dispute privately, considering it a “biblical mandate.” He also highlighted Angel Studios’ role in creating the series, telling RNS that without the former partners the series “would not exist in its current form.” While he understands fans’ irritation at the delay, Jenkins told RNS it’s unfortunate that people jump to conclusions that “either side” is “greedy or unbiblical.”

“It’s frustrating, but it’s a process that’s necessary for the long-term future of the show,” he said.

With over 200 million viewers, “The Chosen” far exceeded the reach of typical faith-based television, drawing praise from the likes of Kourtney Kardashian and country singer Blake Shelton. In addition to the Chosen app, viewers can currently watch seasons one through three on Amazon Prime, Hulu and Peacock, and season one on Netflix. There are expected to be seven seasons in total, and “The Chosen” is currently filming its fifth season. Jenkins said the 600 fans invited to the Utah set as extras added additional emotional depth to the Holy Week scenes they shot.

“If season five matches the intensity and passion on set, it will certainly be our most impactful season yet,” Jenkins said.

Kathryn Post is a reporter for Religion News Service based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.