Dallas Jenkins reveals ‘The Chosen’ Christmas special ‘The Three Kings’

“The Chosen” creator Dallas Jenkins announced Sunday that the hit biblical drama will return to the Christmas story with a new standalone special, “The Chosen: The Three Kings,” set to air nationally on Fox in December.

Jenkins revealed the project during a livestream with fans and said filming has already been completed, even as production continues on Season 7 of the series. The story will connect events in Season 6 with the forthcoming Season 7 and the theatrical film depicting the crucifixion of Jesus.

“This flows directly with Season 6 and into Season 7,” he said.

“This is an opportunity to get even more of ‘The Chosen’ out to new audiences,” Jenkins said. “It’s going to be on national television in December. A really cool opportunity to broadcast this to a big audience.”

“The Three Kings” marks the third Christmas installment from “The Chosen,” following “The Shepherd,” the short film that served as the original pilot for the series, and the later special “The Messengers.”

The director also said the Christmas episode will debut on the Fox Broadcasting Network, which gives the series an opportunity to reach viewers who might not already be watching “The Chosen.”

Fox hasn't announced an exact air date, though Jenkins said the special is expected to premiere in mid-December.

Jenkins said details introduced in the Christmas episode will also provide context for events audiences will see in the crucifixion film, scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2027.

“So, when you’re watching the crucifixion movie, which will be in theaters in 2027, some of the things you’ve seen in this Christmas episode will inform what you see in the crucifixion feature film. It’s quite a thing,” he said.

The idea for “The Three Kings” emerged while Jenkins and his team were developing Season 6; material involving the Magi, the mysterious visitors described in the Gospel of Matthew who traveled to worship the young Jesus, was initially intended to appear during the season but eventually became too big to fit within its existing scope.

“What happened was we were going to take some of this storyline that you’re going to see in ‘The Three Kings,’” Jenkins explained. “It was originally going to be in Season 6 … it just got too big. [The] season was too big, too long, too expensive. We couldn’t quite make it work.”

“So, you are going to see some really, really cool things,” Jenkins said. “And of course, we’re going to give ‘The Chosen’ treatment to a very famous story that’s only given brief mention in the Bible, but we have expanded on the cultural and historical significance of it. And I’m telling you, you have not seen it like this before.”

Season 6 of "The Chosen" is scheduled to begin streaming on Prime Video in mid-November, with its first six episodes leading into December. “The Chosen: The Three Kings” will follow on Fox before the story moves toward the theatrical crucifixion film in 2027. Season 7 will then continue the biblical narrative with the resurrection of Jesus.

Jenkins previously told The Christian Post that the season focuses on Christ's willing surrender to the Father's will despite the suffering that awaited Him.

"Season 6 is the living out of what Jesus said: 'Not my will, but yours,'" Jenkins said. "Jesus, God incarnate, expressed that His own will might be to avoid the crucifixion, yet He willingly chose surrender. If He was willing to put Himself through that when He could have gotten out of it, then our problems are much smaller by comparison. I want to follow in His footsteps."

"Everyone knows the basics of this part of the story, but not everyone knows the 'why' of the crucifixion and the extraordinary events of these 24 hours," Jenkins said in an earlier statement. "We realized this not only deserved a season of television but a standalone full-length theatrical event as well. We wrote and filmed all of it with this in mind."