With "Divergent" being released this week, it will be interesting to see if the film becomes the financial success Summit and Lionsgate hope for or if it will become another young adult novel adaptation that fails to catch on with audiences.
Over the years the studios have tried to begin a number of franchises based on popular books and failed a number of times. The exceptions have been small such as "Harry Potter," "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight." These three franchises have been lucrative to the studios but their success was unpredictable.
Most recently Lionsgate tried to get a series started with "Ender's Game." The movie an all-star cast and had a rather original twist to it. However the movie was given mixed reviews and was gobbled up by the crowded holiday season. The movie only made $61 million and is unlikely to get a sequel.
Warner Bros failed with "Beautiful Creatures." The movie also featured a great cast and was geered towards young woman. However, neither the reviews, the concept nor the promotion helped it because the film only made $19 million and a sequel is unlikely to occur.
Buena Vista also attempted to start up a series with "I am Number Four." Once again the film was geared toward young audiences and had a futuristic concept with aliens involved. The movie however cast young new talent and the end product finished with a mediocre box office of $55 million and a poor critical reception.
Fox had a better turnout with 2006's "Eragon." The $100 million production received a December release and was geared towards fans of the books. However the lack of good reviews and a unique premise drove audiences away. The end result was a $75 million gross. Fox later scrapped any plans of a sequel.
In 2007 New Line Cinema tried to make a new franchise after the success of the Lord of the Rings. As a result "The Golden Compass" had one of the most elaborate productions for a start up film. The movie priced at $180 million and was being billed as the next series with a cast of A-List actors. The studio also made sure to promote itself as the studio that brought the "Lord of the Rings" to life. Having been released in December, the film opened to $25 million and later failed to capture audiences. Additionally it was bogged down by the Catholic Church and controversy as well as mixed reviews. In the end the movie made a disappointing $70 million and New Line Cinemas went under.
One of the most interesting cases of the past few years was "The Chronicles of Narnia." Having been released in 2005 the first film was a huge success both financially and critically. Disney then decided to make the second film "Prince Caspian" in 2008. However that movie failed to live up to the success of the first one scoring mixed reviews and making $100 million less than the original. Having lost over $100 million on that film Disney sold the book's rights to Fox. Two years later Fox released the third installment and bombed. The film was critically hated and domestically it made $104 milliom. That was $40 million less than the second entry in the franchise. The last two installments were later scrapped but there are rumors that Fox intends to finish out the series.
"Divergent" currently has negative reviews but is tracking well at the box office. However if the movie fails to go beyond the fanbase, it can become victim of the latest YA film adaptation to have sequel plans scrapped.
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