Three years after its debut episode in the U.S., the popular and record-breaking show about Christianity's central figure and His followers, "The Chosen," makes its way to France's most popular TV channel.
Last week saw the premiere of the French-dubbed version of the program, which has been seen an estimated 320 million times, and the show's popularity has skyrocketed.
As reported by Eternity News, France was one of the first countries in the world to create a formal secular culture by legislation in 1905. Now, it is the first foreign nation to air "The Chosen" in primetime.
CBN News also reported that the cast and crew of "The Chosen" were joined by 500 people at a Paris cinema for a screening of the film ahead of its airing next week.
At the event, one guest commented on how much he enjoyed the connection between Jesus and His followers. Another praised the film stating, "It was different from other films about Jesus, it was just fantastic I can say."
As the first multi-season TV program portraying Jesus' life, "The Chosen" is said to be a must-see. So, even though the show can be seen for free on the app, fans have contributed more than $40 million toward its production expenses, CBN News noted.
It added that as the show has been translated into more than 50 languages, more have now gotten their hands on the first 16 episodes of "The Chosen." There are now more than 321 million viewers who have seen the series as of writing.
In fact, Christian media company Angel Studios wants to dub the series in the top 25 languages spoken across the globe in order to reach a billion people.
"We can't reach a billion just in English, so to reach a billion we have to unlock more languages," Jared Geesey from Angel Studios told CBN News.
One of France's most well-known evangelicals, "TopChrétien" founder éric Célérier, is hoping the program would help open the minds of his people.
"My hope is that people will connect, not with the show, but with Jesus through the characters in the show," he said.
As "The Chosen" aired for seven seasons, Célérier also reportedly organized hundreds of French pastors and Catholic leaders to conduct follow-up outreach and discipleship initiatives. More than 3,500 more Christians have agreed to host small groups to study the series in their homes or other places of their choosing.
"We are preparing the fields, we are preparing the hearts with season one, but I hope that season after season people will connect more and more with Jesus," Célérier said.
According to program producer Katherine Warnock: "To be on a major network is a first. We love our platform, we love having a free app that's available to the whole world, but to be embraced by Canal + has been such an honor."
In Paris for the film's worldwide debut, American actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus, was amazed by the size of the audience and the kind reception he received.
He told CBN that he had no idea that The Chosen would be shown on French national television so quickly.
"God is tilling the soil and sowing seeds for a fertile revival in this beautiful country," he told the outlet.
Christian filmmaker Dallas Jenkins is behind the multi-season series "The Chosen," which tells the story of Jesus Christ and the people who followed Him.
