It’s still incredibly weird that Divergent is suddenly going from humongous box office adaptation to TV show — but now we know a little but more about how that eventual transformation is going to be made. Not only will the final movie be re-adapted, but the series itself will continue to tell new stories in the Divergent universe.
Speaking at a Lionsgate earnings call this week, Television Group Chairman Kevin Beggs discussed why the decision was being made — essentially, Allegiant slumped so hard it wasn’t worth making a sequel movie — but then expounded on just how the Divergent TV plans will play out:
[We] got excited about the possibility of what the series could look like — resolving the novel in a season across 10 to 13 episodes, and then expanding from there into multiple seasons.
So the events of what would have been the final film, Ascendant, will become the show’s first season, before moving on into its own thing in the wake of that story coming to a close. That’s a bit different to what was initially rumoured as some kind of “TV movie” before a new series spin-off, but equally as weird a fate for a franchise that was once considered the potential successor to The Hunger Games.
There are still no details on whether movie stars Shailene Woodley or Theo James would return — the closest we have to that is Miles Teller is currently casting doubt on whether he’d be back for the show — but if the movie will only be a single season, it might be easier for Lionsgate to woo back the cast for one last time.
Then again, completely recasting the entire saga for TV and acting like nothing happened would be the sort of weirdness that would be expected in what is already a crazy scenario like this.
[Deadline]