The Chosen’s deal with Prime Video explained: Is it still free?

Dallas Jenkins just made a huge announcement: Prime Video will be the exclusive “third-party home” of The Chosen and its spinoffs. Here’s exactly what that means.

It’s believed that more than 500 million people have watched The Chosen – that is an enormous figure. It’s quietly one of the most-viewed TV shows in the world, and it’s barreling towards its biggest event: the Passion (aka the crucifixion) and the resurrection.

The Chosen Season 5 is chronicling the events of Holy Week, likely culminating in the Last Supper and Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

However, as teased by Jenkins, a big change has been taking shape behind the scenes of the series – and it’s now official.

Will The Chosen Season 5 still be free to stream?

Yes, The Chosen Season 5 will be free to stream via the show’s official website and app – however, there’s a catch.

After its theatrical release (scheduled to start on March 28 and screen through April), it will be available exclusively on Prime Video for 90 days. After that initial window, the new season will drop on the show’s free platform.

“As part of this deal, in exchange for what Prime Video is bringing to the table, it will get the first exclusive streaming window after the theatrical release. So, for 90 days, it will be on Prime Video in the US,” Jenkins explained in a livestream.

“So, after the season finale, there’s 90 more days, and then it will be in The Chosen app.”

A word of caution: Jenkins said the streaming windows in international territories could be a bit different from the US (so it may be time to invest in a good VPN).

Why has Dallas Jenkins signed a deal with Prime Video?

YouTube: The Chosen

It’s simple: thanks to its deal with Prime Video, Amazon has agreed to help fund The Chosen and its spinoffs and help market it to an even bigger audience.

The Chosen has been available outside of the show’s website and app before; specifically, it was on Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video last year, as well as airing on The CW.

As Jenkins pointed out, “most of you already have Prime Video… as part of your Prime subscription, you already have Prime Video.”

However, how does it actually benefit the series? “Their licence fees are going to help us reach a billion much, much faster. We can do things like the Times Square takeover, TV ads, more global outreach,” he explained.

“We can also super-charge the number of translations we can do… you’re going to see people all over the world get this show quicker because of Prime Video faster.”

Notably, The Chosen’s viewership skyrocketed when it appeared in Prime Video’s streaming chart. “Over the last year… we have doubled the number of viewers than all of the previous years,” Jenkins said, believing the ease of access to Prime Video made it an attractive choice for the show’s third-party home.

Ultimately, despite its huge viewership already, The Chosen is a bit niche; it’s not an easy show to discover, and Jenkins believes Prime Video will help it reach a broader audience.

Will Amazon have any creative control over The Chosen?

5&2 Studios

No! As part of The Chosen’s deal with Prime Video, Jenkins will retain absolute creative control over the series, so don’t worry about any changes to its tone and/or content.

“We took far less money in order to protect you and this project. Prime Video would have been happy to spend more money for longer exclusivity and to make sure there wasn’t any competition… but the conversations from the beginning have been that the show must always be free,” Jenkins explained.

“We said upfront that total creative control is a non-negotiable. There cannot be any influences from any outside sources and that ultimately falls on me. I, Dallas Jenkins, am the final say on every second that you see on any of our projects… and they happily agreed.”

How the Amazon deal affects The Chosen spinoffs

Lionsgate

As part of the deal with Prime Video, Amazon will also help fund Jenkins’ upcoming Biblical universe of The Chosen spinoffs.

“We can now expand this universe and do more Bible projects because of our partnership with Prime Video,” Jenkins explained.

However, while viewers will have to “wait for a bit” to watch the flagship show for free, that may not be the case for other shows (like its reality TV spinoff with Bear Grylls or projects about Joseph and Moses).

“The mothership show will always be free. There are other shows that we do that might be longer before they’re available for free, and maybe some shows will never be available totally for free. That’s not our goal… but of course, there’s a lot to come, so I can’t promise everything,” he added.

The Chosen theatrical releases will get much bigger with Amazon

The Chosen

While Season 5’s theatrical window will mirror how Season 4 was released in cinemas, Seasons 6 and 7 are set to receive huge theatrical releases with Amazon.

“So far, we’ve done kind of small releases right? It’s not a traditional theatrical release… where it stays in theaters for as long as it’s selling… because we’re doing these sort of specialty releases,” Jenkins explained.

The crucifixion and resurrection will be “super-sized, huge studio-style releases in multiple languages at once… we are going to help create a cultural event.”

“Imagine what we can do together, combining Come and See’s marketing resources and our social media resources with what Amazon MGM Studios can bring to a massive theatrical release across the world… these are going to be huge cultural events.”

Before Part 2, read our recaps of Season 5 Episode 1 and Episode 2.

In the meantime, find out how to stream The Chosen for free and read more about the show’s filming locations and cast and characters. Make sure you keep tabs on this year’s releases with our 2025 TV show calendar too.