The “Divergent” film series isn’t ending the way it began. The franchise, which is based on Veronica Roth’s novels, will see its fourth and final film appear on television as a TV movie, with hopes of a spinoff series, Variety reports. Studio Lionsgate has not yet approached networks, so there’s no information about where it may end up.
It’s a shocking announcement and a disappointing end to a female-led franchise, but with the ever growing feeling of “sequelitis,” it seemed something had to give when it came to this series in particular.
The series, Variety notes, focuses on “a futuristic society where people are broken up into social and personality-related factions.” But Roth’s novel came in the form of a trilogy, with Lionsgate opting to stretch the final book into two films.
The first two films, “Divergent” and “Insurgent,” performed well at the box office, with the first earning $150 million on an $85 million budget, and the second earning $130 million on a $110 million budget. But the third film in the series, “Allegiant,” pulled in only $66 million on a $110 million budget and was considered a flop. The dismal performance led to Lionsgate slashing the budget for the final installment, “Ascendant.”
It’s become standard practice for YA film adaptations to stretch the final book of a series into two films, even if the extension isn’t warranted. But more movies make more money, or so goes the theory. It happened with the Harry Potter franchise, as well as the “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games” books. But the idea is definitely starting to fizzle out.
As box office analyst Jeff Book told The Hollywood Reporter, “It comes down to this: The core of the story is being hollowed out by splitting the final novel [into two parts] and spiraling out of control. Not only is story momentum being truncated, but this type of corporate greed has caused something even more dire than declining grosses — it’s completely destroying the brand name. Ding dong, dystopia is dead. At least in the YA genre.”
As Variety notes, “The idea is to finalize the storylines involving the current cast and to introduce a new cast, who would then continue the series on either a traditional or streaming network.” But the question remains who of the original cast is going to want to be involved in a television movie instead of a theatrical release. Though it’s probable that the star cast, which includes Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, and Miles Teller, signed deals for all four films, lawyers may be able to get them released from the project. Four movies does not mean three movies and one on TV. And the shifting of cast members in the final film could do even more damage to the franchise. Imagine if “Mockingjay Part 2” ended up on television and didn’t star Jennifer Lawrence.
Hopefully, this decision won’t negatively impact female-driven action films, franchises, or book adaptations. But the lesson is clear: don’t drag out a series just because you think audiences want more, more, more. As “Allegiant’s” box office take proves, sequels aren’t a guaranteed home run, and stretching a book so thin that it leads to a series fatigue might result in its downfall.
