‘The Chosen: The Last Supper – Part One’ Hits Top 3 At the Weekend Box Office
The hit Dallas Jenkins-directed series The Chosen added another impressive accomplishment to its growing collection of accolades this week. The Chosen: The Last Supper – Part One (a theatrical release of the first two episodes of the show’s fifth season) finished in third place at the Hollywood Box office with $11.5 million. The series landed behind the newly released Jason Statham-led action film A Working Man ($15.2 million) and the second weekend of Disney’s Snow White ($14.2 million), and ahead of newly released horror films The Woman in the Yard ($9.5 million)and Death of a Unicorn ($5.8 million).
A third-place finish may not seem too impressive for some films, but several factors make this achievement noteworthy. First, unlike every other entry on the list, The Chosen is a television series. At a time when no other studios are even attempting to give their hit shows a theatrical release, the fact that The Chosen not only warranted the big-screen treatment but performed on par with feature films is an amazing and unprecedented accomplishment. Second, the show’s modest budget relative to the other films on the list also makes it far more profitable. For example, while Snow White finished in second place, the film is poised to lose Disney an enormous sum of money due to its hefty budget. The smaller-scale production of The Chosen makes it an unquestionable financial success.
The faith-based genre has made significant leaps in both quantity and quality in recent years, becoming a legitimate genre in Hollywood. Some releases have become surprise successes (The Sound of Freedom), while others have had a smaller impact at the box office. But with another successful theatrical rollout, The Chosen shows that it remains in a league of its own as far as popularity and cultural footprint. With two more parts of the fifth season to be released into theaters in the coming weeks, it will be worth monitoring whether the show can build on this early success.
Be sure to check out our recap and review of episode one and episode two.
