Following news that Robert Schwentke would be bowing out of directing duties on the fourth and final Divergent movie, called Ascendant, reports have come out that Lionsgate/Summit may have found a new director for the project.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studios are in talks with Lee Toland Krieger to helm The Divergent Series: Ascendant. Krieger previously directed the romantic dramas The Age of Adaline and Celeste and Jesse Forever, so Ascendant would be his first foray into a big studio film.
Before that final film in the franchise, The Divergent Series: Allegiant will be hitting theaters next month, on March 18. Ascendant is essentially the second half of the final book in the franchise, whose namesake — Allegiant — has been given to the third film. I’ve read them all and I still barely followed that last sentence.
Unfortunately, the series as a whole has been a bit of a victim of diminishing returns, with Insurgent not doing much to build upon the somewhat solid base that Divergent introduced in 2014. Hopefully the final two films can end the series on a high note, and not face the book-splitting fiasco that other YA franchises have succumbed to recently.
The Divergent Series: Ascendant is currently slated for a June 9, 2017 debut — the first of the series that will launch outside of March.