Divergent

[Octoberist]

I'm glad that the movie is doing well, even if it's not my cup of tea.

 

[:eek:]

And the big no-surprise in Hollywood today is...

Lionsgate to Split Allegiant into Two Separate Films

Source: Lionsgate
April 11, 2014


Lionsgate will produce and release Allegiant, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James and based on the third book in Veronica Roth's best-selling "Divergent" trilogy, as two separate films, it was announced today by Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. The company will release a total of four "Divergent" films on its Summit Entertainment label, with the next film, Insurgent, which begins production next month, slated for release on March 20, 2015 and Allegiant -- Parts 1 & 2 scheduled for release on March 18, 2016, and March 24, 2017, respectively.

The first film in the Divergent franchise is off to a fast start, grossing $117 million at the domestic box office in its first three weeks of release, and it continues its international rollout this weekend with openings in France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Scandinavia and other major territories. Book sales of the best-selling "Divergent" series continue to skyrocket with total sales nearing 20 million worldwide and sales of the three-book boxed set and three-book e-bundle increasing 55% last week. The three books ranked one-two-three on the USA Today best-seller list for 2013.

"Veronica Roth brings her captivating story to a masterful conclusion in 'Allegiant,' a rich, action-packed book with material that is ideally suited to two strong and fulfilling movies," said Friedman and Wachsberger. "The storytelling arc and world of the characters lend themselves perfectly to two films, a storytelling strategy that has worked very well for us on the two 'Twilight Breaking Dawn' films and about which we're tremendously enthusiastic for the two upcoming 'Mockingjay' films of 'The Hunger Games' franchise."

Lionsgate's "The Hunger Games" and "The Twilight Saga" franchises have collectively grossed more than $5 billion at the worldwide box office, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the 10th highest-grossing film of all time. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Parts 1 & 2 will be released on November 21, 2014 and November 20, 2015, respectively.

After the cataclysmic events in Insurgent, Tris and Four enter a dangerous new world in Allegiant -- Parts 1 & 2 that they no longer recognize. As new truths are revealed about the past and future, Tris must face impossible choices about courage, allegiance and love to protect the people closest to her.

 

[terry78]

See, that damn Harry Potter done ****ed it up.

 

[mclay18]

Actually, The Hobbit did it first. That was first announced in December 2007.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

The movie is doing less than the first Twilight so this is mildly surprising to me. I guess they are expecting New Moon style growth for Insurgent. Maybe they are right but I think it's too soon.

 

[mclay18]

I think they should've kept it to three movies. I personally don't see a huge uptick in ticket sales for Insurgent next year myself.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I think they should've kept it to three movies. I personally don't see a huge uptick in ticket sales for Insurgent next year myself.

I'm inclined to agree but to be fair to Lions Gate the word of mouth has been pretty decent/solid. Maybe Lions Gate are geniuses and Insurgent will do 550+mil worldwide. It's not unheard of for these types of films to explode when the sequel comes out.

As long as the franchise makes them money I guess they are not bothered with making it go on for a year longer. The DVD sales are going to matter a lot, Twilight did great on DVD and that foreshadowed the New Moon explosion at the box office.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

Honestly, the budget is "reasonable" for Divergent: 85 million, it's probably aiming at 220 M + worldwide, if they don't lose their mind on the sequels, it should keep it profitable enough for them.

 

[Teelie]

Good bye trilogies. Hello quadrilogies.

 

[Octoberist]

It was a matter of time.

It's interesting to hear the fans reaction to the third book. Now..was the book THAT disappointing or was it unfair expectations?

 

[Sawyer]

And the big no-surprise in Hollywood today is...

 

[mclay18]

I don't see the hate for this movie, it's enjoyable in places and Shailene kicks ass both physically and acting-wise. But I don't think its mild financial success is big enough to warrant the two-film finale treatment Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games enjoys.

But it's a proven track record, unfortunately.

 

[Loki882]

I feel like the "splitting the last book into two movies" thing works IF you have enough material to justify it. For example, the last Harry Potter book was so large, had so much going on in it, and tied up so many loose ends, that I'm glad that it was split into two movies. Otherwise, you'd have gotten the same thing that happened with movies 4-6, large chunks being cut out for time/pacing that ultimately dragged the movie down. The final Twilight book, on the other hand, DID NOT need to be two movies. There was barely enough material for one movie. I'm a little unsure of whether Mockingjay will work as two movies or not, but I'm taking a "wait and see" approach on that one.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

It's a good decision for Mockingjay though.

 

[DA_Champion]

Divergent
IMDB: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 40%
Director Neil Burger

Divergent is a post-apocalyptic scifi drama set in Chicago where the system requires that every resident be one kind of person, either a soldier, an intellectual, a farmer, and two other systems. As a sociological construct it doesn't make a lick of sense, however that's not the point. This is a metaphor for the fear teenagers (and people in their 20s) can feel about examinations and choosing a destiny in life, and whether or not one person might want to be multiple things.

The main character in Divergent, Tris, played by 22 year old Shaileen Woodley, whom I found to be a good actress, has this issue. She takes an examination to find out who she should be, she has the traits for being a soldier, for being compassionate, and for being an intellectual. She goes into the military (called Dauntless), has to stay undercover in light of her attributes, and eventually has to help stop a coup.

This is a functional movie as far as a legitimate metaphor goes, but it has a lot of problems. The tertiary characters are caricatures, there's a long voiceover narration at the beginning, and there's too much music. Either more character-work or world-building would have been appreciated. It was mostly fun though, and I bought into the central romance, as well as the mother-daughter relationship.

Recommendation: Watch on DVD or Netflix

 

[DA_Champion]

I get it, the society works best when everyone contributes in a particular way in terms of their career, but why did the people in that society only have certain traits they were able to use?

Were those traits genetically bred out of them or something?

It sort of insists on its own concept, but never explains it, and it all kind of falls apart under any real analysis.

It doesn't make any sense as a literal construct. Just think of it as a metaphor for how 17 year-olds agonise over deciding what to do with their lives... go into the army or into medicine or into teaching or into engineering, and you can't go back on your choice, and it's all decided based on tests.

Most science fiction societies are totally nonsensical when analysed literally.

 

[mclay18]

Divergent is holding pretty well. It only dipped 22% in its fifth weekend with a weekend $5.7M cume, $133.9M total. Prior to spring break, the weekday totals averaged around 47-52% compared to the following week -- but since April 14, the weekday holds were impressive.

Maybe Insurgent will have a New Moon-sized bump when it hits next year, as Spidey indicated. Lionsgate is 3-3 in terms of YA book adaptations, financially.

 

[Silvermoth]

Just saw it today and thought it had some good themes. Shaillene is amazing and theo is a new sort of leading man which I really enjoyed. Zoe was great too. She really took what could have been a tiny, forgettable role and made it memorable.

I'll definitely be there for the sequel. Looks like this sort of demographic could be the next big boom for movie makers so I hope we get more of it. Awesome music too

 

[ComicChick]

i finally saw this last week. i did not hate it. i have a friend who has not read the books, but loved it so much they've seen it 3 times lol

there are some fairly noticeable things altered or omitted for the movie, but if you didn't read the books, they won't really matter.

however, one scene i don't remember seeing, could have ramifications for the sequel because it was left out.

here's what i'm referring to

Spoiler

peter stabbed edward in the eye in his sleep one night, jealous cuz Edward was the top ranked. as a result, edward had to leave and become a member of the factionless society

fwiw, was nice to see Judd again playing a strong female character. i've always been a fan of her for some reason

 

[DrCosmic]

Yeah, Judd was a good catch for this film. I really, really loved that Mom-Daughter back to back shooting spree. That was so brilliant to me.

 

[jasmin]

I honestly think this movie would've failed if it had a different cast.

The only reason I read/watched the series was because of Shai so I am happy for Divergent's success. Not only that but another female heroine lead is always great.
Anyways, I just really loved the Mom and Daughter scene so much. Even if it was short. Especially when [BLACKOUT]her mom dies but the soldiers continue to shoot and Tris starts screaming "stop, stop!"[/BLACKOUT].

 

[Dr. Evil]

The very busy Octavia Spencer joins the sequel:

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/octavia-spencer-divergent-insurgent-1201178446/

 

[terry78]

Huh, very good get.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Huh, very good get.

She's been very busy since winning her Oscar that's for sure.

 

[ComicChick]

it's very interesting that she is playing Johanna. i can't wait to see (hope to see) costume and make up make her look like she's described in the book