Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment have decided to split the last "Divergent" book "Allegiant" into two movies.
Variety is reported the news as Lionsgate hopes to have the same success as it did with "The Hunger Games." Michael Burns, the chairman of Lionsgate said, "Assuming the movie works as we expect, we like the idea of a 'Divergent' film every March to complement our 'Hunger Games' films every November."
The executive continued said, "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."
This is the fourth series where the last book is split into two movies. Warner Bros began the trend with the last Harry Potter movie back in 2010 when they released "Deathly Hallows" in two parts. In 2011 Lionsgate decided on the same strategy for the last "Twilight" book "Breaking Dawn." This November the first part of the last "The Hunger Games" book "Mockingjay" will be released.
The strategy has worked so far for two of the three movies as both "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" were hugely successful and the first part of each book created more anticipation for the last film of the series. The first part of "Deathly Hallows" made $295 million while the second part ended its run with $381 million. Meanwhile the first part of "Breaking Dawn" made $281 million while the second part went on to make $292 million.
Based on the last two "Hunger Games" movies, Lionsgate will most likely be able to make bank on the first part of "Mockingjay." The first films have thus far made over $800 million domestically and with anticipation for the last two films Lionsgate can most likely expect another 400 million for the first part of "Mockingjay" and the same with the second part.
The only question is whether "Allegiant" be as successful. The first "Divergent" was successful but nowhere near the aforementioned series. The first "Divergent" film which was released in March has made a total of $119 million and is expected to end its run with $140-150 million. While it is a success, there is no guarantee, the next installment will do as well or improve upon this success. Sometimes first installments do well because of the anticipation but after the first one, the audience loses interest. For example "The Chronicles of Narania: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" was a huge hit but the second and third installments could not match the success of the first installment and the last two movies were cancelled.
"Divergent" stars Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Theo James, and Miles Teller and is currently in theaters. The second installment "Insurgent" will star shooting in May and is set for release on March 20, 2015 while the first "Allegiant" will hit theaters on March 16, 2016. The final installment will be on March 24, 2017.
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