There was hope for the Divergent franchise when the first film debuted in 2014. The film’s gripping story of a dystopian future and its young hero’s easy-to-root-for struggle against an oppressive regime won over spectators. Since a similar strategy had been successful for other franchises like The Hunger Games, it was expected that Lionsgate’s picture starring Shailene Woodley and costarring Theo James and Ansel Elgort would be a box office smash.
The post-apocalyptic Chicago of Neil Burger’s Divergent is an intriguing setting; society is divided into distinct factions based on the virtue one most strongly identifies with (imagine the class system of The Hunger Games crossed with the houses of Hogwarts). Beatrice, or Tris, as she is called in the film, was played by Shailene Woodley.
She joined the Dauntless, a group of the city’s bravest residents, in a dystopian Chicago setting. However, her genes make her a Divergent, thus she exhibits characteristics from several different groups. In particular, she possesses a rare combination of intelligence, altruism, and bravery, all of which are highly desirable qualities in a person who must fight a fascist government.
Although the first film in the Divergent series was not a smash hit, it did well enough financially ($288 million on an $85 million budget) for Lionsgate to greenlight a continuation of the franchise based on the second book in Veronica Roth’s trilogy. this being the time when it became clear that the franchise wasn’t going to survive.
Insurgent and Allegiant Didn’t Go as Planned
In the sequel, directed by Robert Schwentke and titled Insurgent, we rejoin Tris and her boyfriend Four as they flee from Jeanine and the rest of her faction. Did I forget to add that Kate Winslet is the bad guy on the hunt for our hero? Having her on board was wasted, as the show barely utilised her presence.
It produced almost the same profit as the first picture, scraping in at $297 million on a $110 million budget, but reviewers weren’t as kind this time around, suggesting that fans weren’t entirely convinced on another “chosen-one” styled movie so soon after The Hunger Games had concluded its four-part arc. Helen O’Hara of Empire praised Shailene Woodley’s acting but called the plot of Insurgent “one-note,” demonstrating the widespread consensus that the film was overly generic.
However, the franchise continued to falter because Insurgent and the following picture, Allegiant, were filmed simultaneously. though only briefly.
Audiences had lost interest in the Divergent series by the time Allegiant was released in 2016, despite the fact that it now featured the wider world and the mysteries behind the impenetrable cities. The global gross for Allegiant was a dismal $179 million. For months following the release of Allegiant, the fourth instalment, dubbed Ascendant, seemed to be on track. However, in July 2017, Variety announced that the film would instead debut as a TV movie, with a spin-off series also in the works. This is not exactly the way to wrap out a series.
A Disappointing End
Lionsgate was obviously not persuaded that a fourth and final picture in The Divergent Series could recoup the millions it lost on the first three instalments due to the series’ declining box office success. The film’s lead performers promptly abandoned ship as the news broke on television. I think it’s a tragedy that we can’t conclude the tale, but I think it’s evolving in a direction where the actors that have been in the three movies definitely won’t be in whatever it grows to in the future,” Theo James said in an interview with TooFab.
Does your zodiac sign match your faction? 👀 https://t.co/UtBY3CQDMQ
— TheDivergentSeries (@Divergent) September 20, 2021
After previously rejecting the TV proposal, Shailene Woodley’s confirmed departure from the fourth film in February 2017 was the final nail in the coffin of the Ascendant franchise. Unexpectedly, a television show was still in the planning stages as late as the year 2019. It’s true that the Divergent films didn’t set any records at the box office, but they still made over $765 million worldwide, and any continuation of the franchise would benefit from a built-in audience.
The studio’s dissatisfaction with the franchise and the cast’s negative response to being recast for television all but guarantee that Divergent 4 (aka Ascendant) will never be released. However, there is not to rule out the possibility of a future reappearance of Tris and Four.
After all, we live in a time where previously cancelled remakes are given new life on streaming services. I don’t know. It’s possible that, like WandaVision and The Mandalorian, a redesigned Divergent will become the next programme we can’t stop talking about each week. If you must know what happens, it may be wise to read the original books by Veronica Roth first.
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