‘Insurgent’ and ‘Allegiant’, The Sequels to Divergent, Now With Confirmed Release Dates
Following Divergent's $4.9 million debut take at the box office last year, Summit Entertainment, a Lionsgate subsidiary, has set the release of the sequel movie, Insurgent, on March 20, 2015. These two films are the big-screen adaptations of "Divergent" and "Insurgent," which are the first and second books in the "Divergent" trilogy for the young-adult genre written by Veronica Roth.
The third book in Roth's trilogy series, titled "Allegiant," will also be made into a movie. In fact, it will be made into two films, namely, The Divergent Series: Allegiant Part I which will be released on March 18, 2016, and The Divergent Series: Allegiant Part II which will screen in theaters on March on March 24, 2017.
On the decision to split Allegiant into two films, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger in a press statement wrote: "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. 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."
Insurgent and the two-part Allegiant are being directed by Robert Schwentke following Divergent director Neil Burger previous announcement that he will no longer continue with the series. The screenplay for Insurgent was written by Akiva Goldsman with Brian Duffield while Noah Oppenheim penned the script for The Divergent Series: Allegiant - Part 1.
According to the studio, Insurgent continues where Divergent left off - with Tris (Shailene Woodley), Four (Theo James), Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and Marcus (Ray Stevenson) on their way to Amity where all factions are allowed to settle as long as they stay in peace. However, where Allegiant - Part 1 will take off will of course depend on at what point in the saga Insurgent will end. While filming is still set to start on April, a synopsis from the studio says that in Allegiant - Part 1, Tris and Four will next venture into the world outside of the fence, where they will be taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.