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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged

OKLAHOMA CITY — More than two decades ago, I covered the opening of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” movie for The Associated Press.

I wrote that the people streaming out of a theater in Plano, Texas, north of Dallas, “looked as if they’d just attended a wake — and many said they felt as if they had.”

The brutal, bloody nature of Gibson’s 2004 portrayal of Jesus’ death on a cross drew both fans and critics — and mixed reviews.

In 2027, a new feature-length presentation of the Crucifixion will hit the big screen. It’ll mark the culmination of the much-anticipated Season 6 of the worldwide phenomenon “The Chosen.” 

What should viewers expect? 

Will it be similar to — or different from — “The Passion” version?

I welcomed the opportunity this week to ask such questions of Dallas Jenkins, the creator, executive producer and director of the hit religious drama, which premiered in the spring of 2019 as a crowdfunded project. 

I talked to the evangelical filmmaker at Oklahoma Christian University, my alma mater, where he spoke Monday as part of the McBride Lecture for Faith and Literature. 

Read the full column.

This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Jenkins