Divergent hasn’t even hit theatres yet but the buzz is already starting to build around its sequel, Insurgent. While the film is still without a director, as Neil Burger won’t be returning, there is a new screenwriter on board in the form of Akiva Goldsman. The Oscar winner is perhaps best known for penning A Beautiful Mind and will make his directorial debut with Winter’s Tale next month. Though Insurgent already has a first draft from Brian Duffield, Goldsman has been tapped to do some re-writes on it before the film begins shooting this Spring.
Based on Veronica Roth’s YA novels, Divergent stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Ashley Judd and Kate Winslet. That’s a pretty exciting cast and with the amount of hype surrounding the film, I’m beginning to hope that it can break the recent trend of YA adaptations.
Ever since The Hunger Games hit theatres we have seen so many YA novels turned into films in hopes of being the next big box office success, only to fall flat on their face. With Divergent, however, I have a feeling that things will be different. Not only is the cast very impressive (which is something I can’t say for movies like Beautiful Creatures or The Mortal Instruments), but seeing as the studio is already putting things into motion for the sequel, it must mean that they have a great deal of confidence in the first film.
Then again, The Mortal Instruments also had a sequel lined up well before it hit theatres and we all know how that film turned out. But again, I’m starting to get a good feeling about Divergent and I can safely say that I’m looking forward to the upcoming YA adaptation.
Divergent will hit theatres on March 21st, 2014 while Insurgent will arrive on March 20th, 2015.