The Divergent Series: Ascendant was supposed to wrap up the franchise with a TV movie. Here is why the final Divergent movie was canceled.
The Divergent Series: Ascendant was supposed to wrap up the young adult sci-fi saga, but was instead abandoned. Here is why that cancellation occurred. Following the huge success of The Hunger Games franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence, there was a slew of short-lived fad of movie adaptations of young adult sci-fi novels. These included The Maze Runner trilogy and The Divergent Series. Based on the best-selling YA novels by Veronica Roth, the Divergent series featured a great cast of up-and-coming actors, including Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, and Bill Skarsgard. The series ended abruptly when The Divergent Series: Ascendant movie was canceled, leaving the questions of the final Divergent book unanswered.
The Divergent series is set in a futuristic society where people are divided into factions based on their virtues: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. The main character Beatrice "Tris" Prior (Shailene Woodley) learns she is a Divergent — meaning she has multiple attributes and doesn't fit into just one faction. This forces her to conceal her status to avoid being targeted by the government. Divergent's unique premise was well-received both by critics and at the box office. However, while Divergent and its sequel The Divergent Series: Insurgent were solid hits, they did not reach the same level of success as The Hunger Games, and the future of the franchise was inevitably put into question following the underwhelming performance of The Divergent Series: Allegiant in 2016. Despite rumors of Tris dying in The Divergent Series: Ascendant, the final film of the series was ultimately abandoned.
After the financial disappointment of The Divergent Series: Allegiant, the film's executives decided to try wrapping up the series with TV movie version of The Divergent Series: Ascendant. The television series would have revolved around new storylines and characters that didn't strictly follow the plotlines within the original books. Unfortunately, the television continuation of The Divergent series did not come to fruition, but why?
The Divergent Series: Ascendant TV Movie Was A Response To The Box-Office Of Allegiant
Prior to the release of The Divergent Series: Allegiant, there were already signs that the general public's interest in the franchise was waning. The second movie only topped the original's total gross by a tiny margin, and audience interest in YA movies had shrunk and proved to be a passing trend that was unsustainable. When Allegiant grossed less than $180 million worldwide, compared to the $300 million Insurgent made the year before, the studios realized they could no longer confidently invest in the YA dystopian movies for a considerable profit at the box office.
Since The Divergent Series: Allegiant split the final book in Roth’s trilogy into two films, the final movie's production was scheduled to begin after its predecessor hit theaters. However, the meager financial returns of Allegiant halted those plans, and in July 2016, it was announced that a TV movie would conclude the story. The cast response to this was far from enthusiastic, with Shailene Woodley stating she did not sign up for a TV movie and doubted she would return. Co-stars Theo James and Miles Teller later ruled out a TV movie return too. The franchise could no longer afford stars like Octavia Spencer, and had to admit that it was no longer popular enough to justify another film.
The Divergent Series: Ascendant Was Canceled In 2018
None of the Divergent cast was interested in making the jump from three big-budget blockbusters to a TV movie, let alone one that acted as a pilot for a potential series. Although Woodley wanted to return to complete Tris’ story, she only expressed willingness for a theatrical movie. The actress later admitted how disappointed she was with the saga's ending that she even considered quitting acting entirely. This similar lack of interest from the original cast eventually killed The Divergent Series: Ascendant in 2018, after years of development. Cast members like Teller and Kravitz were already moving on to bigger roles and projects, so the odds of convincing them to return were always slim. Splitting the last Divergent book into two films was ultimately what killed the series' conclusion, and demonstrates the danger of splitting a story into two parts. For if the first film doesn't do well financially, then the series will ultimately be abandoned and disappoint both the filmmakers and the audience.
Related: Miles Teller Not Doing Allegiant TV Movie
The Divergent Series' Possible Future
While it seems like The Divergent Series: Ascendant is unlikely to ever be revived as a project, Hollywood loves a known brand name with an established fan base, and it will be difficult to imagine the Divergent franchise not returning to the screen in some form down the line. Considering there are multiple streaming services vying for audience attention, Divergent could make a comeback on a streaming platform. Since Netflix is adapting the YA series Uglies, another streaming service may reboot the Divergent series to keep up with the competition. So, even though Summit Entertainment, which owns the rights to the franchise, will not be reviving the sci-fi saga anytime soon, that does not mean that the property will be dead forever. After all, the Divergent movies were still profitable, making over $765 million worldwide.
Other YA Movies Series That Were Canceled Before Their Time
The Divergent Series: Ascendant was far from the only YA book series turned film series that was canceled before they got the chance to complete the story from the original books. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was meant to be the first in a series of films based on The Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare, but didn't generate enough money to justify making the sequel (Entitled The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes). Although this particular YA series did actually get converted into a television show called Shadowhunters. The Percy Jackson Series only produced two movies before the film franchise was canceled in 2013, this YA franchise is receiving a television adaptation on Disney+. The YA franchise I Am Number Four was also canceled before producing any sequels. All these cancellations (and more) sadly pointed toward Hollywood losing interest in YA film adaptations, and the cancellation of The Divergent Series: Ascendant was the nail in the coffin of the YA book-to-film trend that hit Hollywood in the 2010s.
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