If you’re surprised by this Divergent film series announcement, you haven’t been paying attention to the recent trend of splitting books into two movies to prolong a franchise. Warner Bros did it with Harry Potter. Summit made the same decision for Twilight, and Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games will finish up by breaking up Mockingjay into two films. And now Lionsgate and Summit have announced the third book in Veronica Roth’s bestselling Divergent series, Allegiant, will be made into two feature films.
Allegiant Part 1 will open in theaters on March 18, 2016 followed by Part 2 on March 24, 2017. Filming on the second movie of the series, Insurgent, will kick off in May 2014 with that film heading to theaters on March 20, 2015.
“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,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairmens Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger. “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.”
Divergent was released on March 21, 2014 and has earned more than $117 million domestically since opening in theaters.
The Plot of Allegiant:
After the cataclysmic events in Insurgent, Tris and Four enter a dangerous new world in Allegiant Parts 1 & 2 that they no longer recognize. As new truths are revealed about the past and future, Tris must face impossible choices about courage, allegiance, and love to protect the people closest to her.
