The Divergent
series is one of those that you’ve either heard of or you haven’t. You’re most
probably aware of it if you’re a young adult, avid reader of popular fiction or
dragged to your local multiplex by a younger relative. With news that the final
novel in the trilogy shall be - once again - split across two, feature-length
instalments, it begs the ultimate question… is the series really that popular?
The Divergent series of books sold in excess of six millions copies in 2013 alone, topped USA Today’s Best-Seller List and won numerous accolades in the process. Unsurprisingly, before the series grew into the young adult phenomenon it has become, Summit Entertainment had already picked up the film rights back in March 2011. No doubt, following The Twilight Saga’s incredible success, Summit were quick to pick up the new hot topic before the bidding war commenced. Likewise, before fans knew it, Shailene Woodley and Theo James had already signed up as the two leads.
Following its debut in 2014 with an $85 million budget, Divergent managed to draw in an audience of $288.7 million worldwide. Clearly, the numbers show a success story but comparing it to its predecessors? Not so much. The Twilight Saga’s first instalment pulled in a mighty $392 million worldwide on a mightily small budget of $37 million. Similarly, the first outing in The Hunger Games series accumulated $691 million, also on a smaller budget than Divergent. So why, may you be asking, should we be making these comparisons when Divergent is still raking in the cash?
The Divergent series of books sold in excess of six millions copies in 2013 alone, topped USA Today’s Best-Seller List and won numerous accolades in the process. Unsurprisingly, before the series grew into the young adult phenomenon it has become, Summit Entertainment had already picked up the film rights back in March 2011. No doubt, following The Twilight Saga’s incredible success, Summit were quick to pick up the new hot topic before the bidding war commenced. Likewise, before fans knew it, Shailene Woodley and Theo James had already signed up as the two leads.
Following its debut in 2014 with an $85 million budget, Divergent managed to draw in an audience of $288.7 million worldwide. Clearly, the numbers show a success story but comparing it to its predecessors? Not so much. The Twilight Saga’s first instalment pulled in a mighty $392 million worldwide on a mightily small budget of $37 million. Similarly, the first outing in The Hunger Games series accumulated $691 million, also on a smaller budget than Divergent. So why, may you be asking, should we be making these comparisons when Divergent is still raking in the cash?
Well, 2015 saw Divergent’s sequel Insurgent smash onto cinema screens across the globe. Now, even after cranking up the budget to $110 million (with marketing and advertising costs not included in this figure), Insurgent pulled in only a slice more than its predecessor, coming in at $295.2 million. While this figure doesn’t take into account DVD, on-demand and television broadcast revenue, it’s very clear that the series has suffered something of a tumbling block – a waning interest, you could say.
Now, this is where the real question comes into place. Following the news that the final novel in the series – Allegiant – would be split into two, only last week did Summit announce the surprising titles of the two final parts. While Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games series have embraced the ‘Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’ titles for their respective final novels, Divergent has decided to change to Allegiant (the title of the final novel) and the newly-introduced Ascendant for the fourth and final part.
Why does a series finale need to create a completely new name? Well, the fatigue surrounding splitting novels was evident in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which underperformed and took in over $100 million less than its previous outing, Catching Fire. Summit clearly want non-book readers to forget that Allegiant will be stretched across two feature films. Similarly, if the original Allegiant – Part 1 had taken in an even smaller box office than Insurgent, it could prove fatal to the series, especially with the budget likely to balloon for a more explosive and satisfying ending.
It’s also important to note that Insurgent wasn’t as favourable with the fans as hoped. Major changes were made during the adaptation process, with fans questioning where the series could go next. Meanwhile, it’s been proven to be a box office disaster to upset fans in the past (note The Mortal Instruments).
Overall, it’s strange to see a movie series with a moderately sized audience stretch out an additional two films when - taking into marketing and advertising costs – its previous outing barely put any pennies into the profit pot; particularly when there’s two more blockbusters to fund.
As much as we can speculate and question whether Allegiant and Ascendant will satisfy the book fans and pull in those that have only kept up to scratch by screen, only time will tell.
Take a look for yourself at Allegiant’s new and exclusive first-look trailer below.
