The fifth season of “The Chosen” has been released only partially on Prime Video, and fervent fans of the biblical drama are already eagerly anticipating details about the sixth and seventh seasons.
Abe Bueno-Jallad, the actor who plays Big James on “The Chosen,” is also waiting on Season 7 details, while still relishing in the ongoing success of Season 5.
“It’s so crazy, we’re talking about (Season) 7, (and) we’re over here on (Season) 5,” Bueno-Jallad told the Deseret News. “I haven’t even read those (Season 7) scripts. ... I’m waiting.”
In March and April, the fifth season of “The Chosen” was theatrically released in three parts, generating more than $35 million at the box office and boosting the franchise past $100 million in ticket sales, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Season 5 began a phased streaming release on Prime Video on Sunday and seasons 6 and 7 already have partial theatrical release dates.
The success of the series “shows that there’s a need, and that we are still, to this day, filling a need for this kind of content,” Bueno-Jallad said.
“I 100% know that we have affected the (entertainment) industry,” he added. “I really appreciate the conversations that we’ve started.”
Bueno-Jallad was already impressed with “The Chosen” before joining the cast in Season 2, but he never anticipated the mega-growth the show has gone through.
“I knew it was a real movement, but I didn’t know we were going to be in Times Square. I didn’t know we were going to have Annie Leibovitz wanting to interpret our movie poster," Bueno-Jallad said, in reference to recent milestones for the series.
He continued, “I didn’t know that we were just going to keep growing and then more, and then break barriers, and then finding our new home at Amazon ... that’s very impressive for this little show, isn’t it?”
Filling the role of Big James
Between the start of Season 1 and before filming began for Season 2, Bueno-Jallad auditioned for various roles in “The Chosen” on four separate occasions.
“I was very aware of the show at that point,” Bueno-Jallad said. “I loved the writing. I felt that it was some of the strongest writing on the subject matter I had ever seen up until that point —maybe still. So it was definitely something that caught my attention."
He never auditioned for the role of Big James, who is one of Jesus’ apostles, but was cast in the role for Season 2.
For Bueno-Jallad, it wasn’t important which role he filled, he just wanted “to play in this world” of “The Chosen,” he said.
“I wanted to be a part of it,” Bueno-Jallad said. “I just didn’t know how, and it wasn’t on my time — so it came as a surprise to me.”
Bueno-Jallad on upcoming seasons
Filming for Season 6 of “The Chosen” is already partway through, and according to Bueno-Jallad, “Season 6 is real. It is so real. It is such drama. It is so heavy.”
The sixth season of the biblical drama will feature the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The theatrical release for the Season 6 finale is set for March 12, 2027, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
“James is really going to take some chances in Season 6, whereas in Season 5, he’s only understanding, just barely catching on to the fact that, via the Last Supper, this might be the last time we’re all together,” Ballad-Jallad said. “So Season 5 is kind of like that crack in the pita bread, so to speak.”
He continued, “We all read the book. We all know where it’s going, but ... it’s always interesting to see how this show will go ... how we will interpret it”
For a glimpse into what upcoming seasons will look like, Season 5 set the tone for the rest of the series.
“I think that Season 5 had this feeling to it, this tone to it, that will dictate the rest of the films,” Bueno-Jallad said.
“There’s just going to be a tonal switch that I think is going to be important to latch on to and not be afraid of — go with us on the journey. It’s going to be a good one, get yourself ready."
‘The Chosen’ Season 5 release dates
As when it debuted in theaters, Season 5 will be released on Prime Video in three parts over the span of three weeks, per a press release shared with the Deseret News.
Below are the official streaming release dates for “The Chosen” Season 5 in the United States.
- Part 1, Episodes 1-2: June 15
- Part 2, Episodes 3-5: June 22
- Part 3, Episodes 6-8: June 29
The fifth season will be available on Prime Video in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, sub-Saharan Africa, the U.K. and Latin America in July.
Season 5 will be available to stream for free on “The Chosen” app 90 days after Part 3 debuts on Prime Video on June 29.
The 90-day window of Prime Video exclusivity is part of the agreement between Amazon MGM Studios and 5&2 Studios, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Episodes of Season 5 will release on “The Chosen” app over the course of three weeks, following the same release pattern as the theatrical and Prime Video releases.