This is how ass backwards Hollywood is nowadays. Normally when a movie is a flop and sequels perform worse and worse, that's a sign to just pack up and go home. But nah, not in the case of Lionsgate's Divergent franchise. After Allegiant posted the worse numbers yet, they decided to move the finale, Ascendant, to television rather than give it a theatrical release. Their hope was that it would do well enough to inspire yet MORE movies, spinoffs and such. How could anybody possibly think there's a desire for any of that?
Lionsgate exec Kevin Beggs is one of those stuck in an alternate reality, telling Variety...
“There’s a tremendous fandom...The performance of the last segment of the theatrical didn’t really create a situation where we could commit the production resources necessary to really make the production we needed. We got excited about the possibility of what the series could look like — resolving the novel in a season across 10 to 13 episodes and then expanding from there into multiple seasons."
Yeah, no. And you know it's bad when the stars, all big names who don't need this crap, aren't even excited about it. Shailene Woodley has been skeptical of the whole move to TV, and now co-star Miles Teller says they have no idea what's going on, which makes it tough to commit.
“I’ve talked to nobody. I found out 20 minutes before Variety printed it. When we all signed on for the first one we had every intention of finishing it theatrically.We signed on for x amount of movies and you take that all into consideration. We wanted to see that storyline finish. You know, it’s moving into a different format. So who knows?”
Call me crazy but I think this is going nowhere, especially if the original cast can't be inked to new deals.
