The Divergent series of films, based on the books by Veronica Roth, was meant to be the next Hunger Games, but it didn’t quite work out that way at the box office.
The third part of the series, Allegiant, grossed just $66 million in America, a number low enough that it spooked Lionsgate into announcing that the fourth and final film, Ascendant, would be heading straight to television.
The plan is to turn the film into a backdoor pilot for a new TV series, in which the plucky teens of the Divergent universe presumably go on to find other ways of fighting the power in a vague, dystopian future.
It was originally reported that the TV movie would feature the stars of the existing franchise, including Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Ansel Elgort, and introduce new ones for the series.
Problem is, nobody told them, or at least Woodley. It’s unclear whether any of the young stars are contractually bound to return, but when asked about the fate of Ascendant at Comic Con yesterday, Woodley told an E! News reporter:
“I honestly have no idea what’s going on with Divergent. I know as much as you do.”
Woodley was at Comic Con to promote her Edward Snowden movie Snowden, and seemed suspicious of the timing of the announcement, adding “it’s really convenient that we’re doing all these interviews now and I get asked this question.”
Ascendant was to have begun filming shortly, and was originally scheduled for a June 2017 cinema release. It’s unclear whether any of the main cast will return for the proposed TV movie.
Source: E! Online.
Photo: Frazer Harrison / Getty.
