The creators of the “Divergent” film series based on the “Divergent” books are making the third book in the series, “Allegiant” into two movies.
Interestingly enough, they are doing the same thing the “Hunger Games” movies are. Interesting enough because both Suzanne Collins’ and Veronica Roth’s series are very similar in subject matter. Both stories feature a prominent female protagonist (Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in “Hunger Games” and Shailene Woodley as Tris in “Divergent”) in futuristic, dystopian futures. They struggle to get out of their chosen lives and essentially be teenagers, but in another world. Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns told Variety:
“Assuming the movie works as we expect, we like the idea of a ‘Divergent’ film every March to complement our ‘Hunger Games’ films every November.”
“Divergent” has made a small $139 million worldwide since its release, versus “Catching Fire,” the second installment of “Hunger Games,” which was the highest grossing movie of 2013 at a whopping $864.6 million.
The plan is for the second movie of the “Divergent” series to be released on March 20, 2015 while the first part of “Allegiant” slated for March 16, 2016. The final installment of “Allegiant” has been scheduled for March 24, 2017.
The splitting of a book to film franchise is not an uncommon practice.
The “Harry Potter” series, written by J.K. Rowling, had a final book that was split into two movies, as did “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer.
“Divergent” was published by Roth in 2011. The series was completed in Oct. of 2013. Just for a teaser, this comes from Veronica Roth’s blog about her book:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.”
It’s hard to tell whether or not “Divergent” will be as successful as its predecessors but it is starting to seem pedantic. But as long as there are young adults to watch the films, they will continue to be made and will probably make money.
I’ll be sitting at home watching my “Princess Diaries” movies while “Divergent” is in theaters, but that’s just me.