Moses and Joseph Shows, Plus Animated and Unscripted Spin-Offs (EXCLUSIVE)

‘The Chosen’ creator Dallas Jenkins has launched 5&2 Studios and revealed a slate of projects he’s working on — including an animated series, an unscripted show with Bear Grylls and a multi-season retelling of the Moses story.

According to 5&2 Studios’ mission statement, the independent studio plans to “produce biblically inspired stories through uniquely human and authentic storytelling and audience engagement.” Jenkins was set to announce the new studio and his upcoming programming slate — as well as the launch of the final two seasons of The Chosen — at “ChosenCon” this weekend in Orlando, Florida. The two-day fan event includes cast members and producers behind the series (about the life of Jesus, played by Jonathan Roumi), which began as a crowdfunded independent short film in 2017 but has since become a global hit.

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Earlier this year, an arbitrator ended the partnership between Jenkins’ The Chosen LLC and former partner Angel Studios, giving Jenkins oversight of “The Chosen” while he builds out 5&2 Studios. Season 6 of “The Chosen” will focus on the Crucifixion storyline, while Season 7 will focus on Jesus’ Resurrection. Both seasons will feature eight episodes and will include a global theatrical release of extended Crucifixion and Resurrection episodes.

It’s a continuation of the unique distribution model that “The Chosen” has employed since its premiere (including the “The Chosen” app, theaters, linear channels and streaming). Season 5, which began production in April and wrapped in July, is set to premiere next spring.

Meanwhile, in a follow-up to “The Chosen,” the first new series to be released by 5&2 Studios will be the animated “The Chosen Adventures,” a youth-themed take on the Jesus story, featuring voice actors Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”) and Yvonne Orji (“Insecure”).

The animated series takes place in the same time and place as “The Chosen Ones.” It will focus on Jesus’ interactions with a group of children he meets in the desert.

“There’s a place here to tell the story of Jesus through the eyes of children in a whimsical animated format,” Jenkins said. “We thought there was something to that, seeing Jesus through the eyes of children. We’re not going to develop that in a parent show. But what if we took the time to do that in an animated show that was witty and funny and that adults could appreciate? We really wanted to do it right. We can’t have our second project come out right away and people say, ‘You know, this is fine.’ But we really want to make sure that people really love it.”

Also in the works is “The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls,” a six-part adventure series set to shoot in the fall. Jenkins will take part in the film as “The Chosen” fan Grylls (“Man vs. Wild”) challenges him.

“This is the first of many partnerships in the unscripted space,” Jenkins said. “As a hardy interiors person, I’m very nervous about what’s ahead. But I’m willing to make that sacrifice for the team. It’s about the idea of partnering with other people who have their own audiences, and getting our stuff into their world.”

After filming The Chosen, Jenkins plans to write, direct and host a three-season series about the life of Moses.

“There’s no story in the Bible, maybe not even Jesus, that has more pop culture, more historical moments, more phrases, more images than the story of Moses,” Jenkins said. “There’s an epic story to tell. At the center of it was a reluctant Tony Soprano, a guy who was basically given the task of leading the greatest family in the world — and he didn’t want it. Tony Soprano was always fighting for power, and Moses was really always trying to give it up. And yet he’s the one God chose to lead the greatest religious and cultural movement in the history of the world. And he was unqualified to do it. He was given the task of verbally confronting the oppressors and the slave owners and convincing them to let the Jewish people go. And he has a speech impediment.

“I think the Moses story asks the exact same question, just as The Chosen Ones asked the question of what it would be like to meet Jesus and follow Him or oppose Him,” Jenkins added.

Jenkins said the three seasons will be divided into “three eras of Moses’ story. One is the rescue from Egypt. Two is the parting of the Red Sea, the escape, the Exodus and progressing toward the promised land. And the third season will be after the 40 years of wandering in the desert, when they actually get the promised land, Moses doesn’t really get a chance to experience that. He’s passing on leadership.”

Jenkins added that after seven seasons of The Chosen , he plans to pursue shorter series in the future. “Mothership made me realize that I never want to do seven seasons of anything again as long as I live,” he said. “Part of it may be laziness, but I think it lends itself to three great seasons of eight to 10 episodes.”

In the meantime, work is underway on a series about the Acts of the Apostles and a limited series about Joseph.

“It’s a story that can be told in eight episodes,” Jenkins said of “Joseph.” “We have writers who love ‘The Chosen’ and want to put their own stamp on it, but also relate to the larger ‘Chosen’ story that we’re telling. Any filmmakers or storytellers that we bring on board will be people who love the parent show and aren’t interested in rewriting the way we do things.”

In tandem with the expansion of 5&2 Studios, Jenkins has been in talks with streamers about exclusive collaborations for both The Chosen and the expanded universe.

“The Mothership Show will always be free, that’s our promise and we’ll never change that,” he said. “Other projects, it’ll depend. If there’s a streamer that’s willing to pay enough to sustain us and make sure we don’t have to ask people for money, that’s great. We’ll talk about exclusive windows and all that. But we’ll always have a heart to make sure that people who can’t afford to pay for it, or especially in third-world countries, have access to it. One of the things that will determine who we partner with is who wants to make sure that we can be sustainable for the next ten years of making these projects and not have to do what I always call ‘dancing for pennies’ on live streams, while still recognizing that there’s a large part of the world that needs to see it for free.”

As for how aggressive Jenkins’ plans for 5&2 will be, he cautions against comparing it to creative universes like Marvel or Star Wars.

“I think Marvel and Star Wars — which I love, and this is not a criticism — but I think they’ve struggled with excess at times,” he said. “So our strategy is still, ‘Is this a story that only we can tell?’ That means our style, our approach, the way we did ‘The Chosen.’ Emphasizing authenticity, human connection. If it’s a story that only belongs on an epic scale, from Ridley Scott or a huge studio that’s going to make a sword-and-sandals epic, it’s not for us. Someone else can do it just as well.”

Separately, Jenkins is also behind the upcoming Lionsgate film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, based on the Barbara Robinson book of the same name. The film stars Judy Greer and Pete Holmes and hits theaters November 8.

“Judy and Pete set the tone for the movie that I really want because it’s not a soft Hallmark movie, which is fine, but I’m really excited about the fact that, like the book, it’s very sharp and witty,” he said. “It’s not just a cheesy slapstick Christmas movie for kids, but I think it’s for adults, too. And Judy and Pete are proof of that. It’s a Christmas story for everyone.”

(In an earlier version of the article, Jenkins quoted himself as calling himself a “tough outdoorsman,” when in fact he jokingly referred to himself as a “tough indoor man.”)

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