“The Chosen [Season Two] is going to be released on Easter Sunday,” creator and director Dallas Jenkins revealed in a livestream event today.

Episode one of the nine-episode second season will be available from Easter Sunday, April 4 – although investors and some supporters of the show will get a sneak peek on Saturday, April 3. After that, “each episode will be released as soon as it is done,” assured Jenkins, having also outlined some of the production issues which challenge The Chosen.

In case you missed it, The Chosen is an independent production that can be viewed via its own app (available for Apple here and Android here). The show made history and headlines a few years ago when it raised the highest amount of crowd-funded financial support for any media project.

Having raised $10 million for the first season, the second season budget was also fully subscribed and Season Three already has $2 million given towards its production. The show’s producers also came up with a “pay it forward” system where people can watch The Chosen episodes for free, but choose to pay for a certain amount of episodes that can be watched by others.

On a personal note, my wife and I watched the first season of The Chosen and were struck by how each episode was “brought to you” by another person or family, somewhere else in the world. We did the same at the end of Season One, gifting the incredible and inspiring TV show to other viewers we will, most likely, never meet.

In the livestream update, Jenkins revealed that Season Two has gone over budget and that the full season has not yet been completed. Naming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and destructive weather on the Texas set of The Chosen as the major reasons for cost increases, Jenkins invited fans to dig a little deeper to continue to help broadcast Jesus.

“We want the authentic Jesus to be introduced to over one billion people around the world; we want our great show to do that,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins and his team’s ambition is to make seven seasons of The Chosen – to cover the public ministry of Jesus, building to his death and resurrection – at a production cost of $100 million.

Believing there is an urgency to sharing the life and times of Jesus with a world reeling from a pandemic, race riots and other divisions, Jenkins maintained The Chosen will continue to be available for free.

The first season depicted some of Jesus’s first miracles and public teaching, with emphasis upon natural performances and the eternal power of its central character’s message. The second season is set to focus on the disciples’ relationships, as well as depicting how the everyday and eternal impact of Jesus develops.