Fans of the Divergent series – we might have some bad news for you. Following on from previous films Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant – all adapted from Veronica Roth’s bestselling YA fantasy book series – we had assumed that things would be rounded off in fourth instalment Ascendant. However, due to the less than stellar box-office performance of Allegiant, it looks like a new approach is being taken, with a report on Variety suggesting that the fourth movie will air on TV rather than on the big screen, which will then segue into a spinoff TV series.
All in all, it seems like an off time to be doing things from our perspective. While the series have never quite captured the imagination in the same way as the likes of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, they have still done just about well enough to warrant a follow-up, and have consistently attracted a high calibre of cast members (alongside leads Shailene Woodley and Theo James, the likes of Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Miles Teller and Jeff Daniels are just some of the recognisable names to be involved. Whether or not they’d return for a TV movie is another matter entirely.
Still, it’s worth pointing out that Lionsgate hasn’t actually commented on this report yet, so it might all just be rumour mill talk. While we won’t pretend to be the most ardent aficionados of the series, it’s always a shame when something doesn’t get to go out on its own terms, and hopefully a compromise will be reached one way or another. In the meantime, we’ll wait and see what will happen.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant is availably to buy on DVD and Blu-ray now, distributed by Entertainment One. For all the latest movie news, pick up the new issue of SciFiNow.
