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It’s the query that has haunted YA followers for years: why did they by no means make the fourth and ultimate Divergent film? Even star Shailene Woodley has puzzled the identical factor. Regardless of the huge success of the e-book collection and a blockbuster first movie, the franchise got here to an abrupt and awkward halt earlier than its conclusion. Right here’s a full breakdown of why Ascendant — the deliberate ultimate installment — by no means noticed the sunshine of day.
The Divergent collection was tailored from Veronica Roth’s best-selling novels, following Woodley’s Tris Prior as she navigates a dystopian Chicago divided into 5 factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. Arriving in the course of the peak of the YA craze alongside Harry Potter, Twilight and The Starvation Video games, the primary movie was a success. Two sequels, Rebel and Allegiant, adopted quickly after.
Initially, the story was supposed to finish with a two-part finale. In April 2014 — only a month after the primary movie’s launch — Lionsgate introduced that the ultimate e-book, Allegiant, can be cut up into two movies. Ascendant was slated to hit theaters on March 24, 2017, following Allegiant’s 2016 debut. Manufacturing for the third movie kicked off in Atlanta between Could and August 2015, and the fourth was anticipated to start in summer time 2016.
Nevertheless, the venture rapidly hit roadblocks. In February 2016, director Robert Schwentke stepped down after finishing Rebel and Allegiant. Leo Toland Kreiger was later tapped to interchange him. Then got here the true blow: field workplace numbers.
Launched on March 18, 2016, Allegiant grossed simply $179.2 million worldwide towards its $142 million price range, making it the lowest-performing movie within the franchise. The lackluster efficiency pressured Lionsgate to rethink its technique — and finally, Ascendant was scrapped as a theatrical movie.
What would the fourth film have coated? The deliberate Ascendant would have tailored the second half of Roth’s ultimate novel. After discovering that their metropolis was a part of a genetic experiment run by a gaggle referred to as the Bureau, Tris and her associates try to show them. Their chief, David, plans to unleash a serum to wipe everybody’s recollections and restart the experiment — organising a climactic showdown that followers by no means bought to see on display screen.
Woodley has been candid about her emotions on the matter. She initially pushed for a theatrical finale slightly than the rumored TV film format, saying she “didn’t signal as much as be in a tv present.” Through the years, she’s expressed each peace with the franchise ending and a renewed openness to revisiting it — although she admits it might be difficult to return to the characters at their older ages. Right here’s to hoping!
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