Is The 'Divergent Series' Set To End With A TV Movie?
The fourth and final film in the Divergent franchise might never be coming to a theatre near you. The film was initially scheduled for a June 2017 release, but now studio Lionsgate is said to be considering wrapping up the series with a television movie and a spinoff series instead.
Variety reports that negotiations are currently in the early stages, but 'an individual with knowledge of the situation' has said that instead of having The Divergent Series: Ascendant open in theatres next year as originally planned, the studio wants to wrap up the film series on television.
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The TV movie would then lead in to a standalone television series set in the same post-apocalyptic world. Lionsgate’s television group would handle the production of the seres and the idea would be to finalise the storylines involving the current cast as well as introducing a new cast, with series then continuing on either a traditional network or a streaming service.
The first Divergent film was released in 2014 and grossed over $288 million worldwide. The second instalment, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, released the next year, did even better, taking over $297 million worldwide.
But the third instalment The Divergent Series: Allegiant, released last year, disappointed at the box office, taking only $179 million worldwide. Its poor performance led Lionsgate to rethink their strategy for Ascendant.
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The film was initially planned to start shooting this summer in Atlanta ahead of a June 2017 release, where it would have squared off against World War Z 2 and a reboot of The Mummy at the box office. Variety adds that its not clear wether stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, and others will return for the Ascendant television movie, while Lee Toland Krieger had been tapped to direct the film.