'Divergent' Franchise Officially Heading To TV With 'Ascendant' Series On Starz
Despite making it three films into a franchise, the Divergent book series will no longer be adapted for the big screen. Instead, the series will continue on cable with Starz developing the TV series version of Ascendant, the final chapter of the series based on Veronica Roth's book series.
The biggest question fans probably have is who from the Divergent film franchise will be returning to take a role in the series, and the bad news is that most of them probably won't. But at the very least, the filmmakers hired to write and direct the final installment of the Divergent series will be involved in the show. Find out more about the Ascendant TV series below.
The Hollywood Reporter has the news on Starz developing the Ascendant TV series, which will have Tarzan writer Adam Cozad writing the script, just as he was hired to do for the scrapped film version. Cozad will also serve as executive producer on the series alongside Age of Adaline director Lee Toland Krieger, who was previously set to direct the Ascendant movie before Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment decided to take the story to TV instead.
As for the cast, don't count on many of them to return. Shailene Woodley has already made it clear that she would not be on the TV series. Even though she recently found success to the tune of an Emmy nomination on the HBO series Big Little Lies, while she was making the publicity rounds for that show, she pretty definitively said, "No. I'm not going to be on the television show." Before that, back in 2016, Woodley also said this:
"I didn't sign up to be in a television show. Out of respect to the studio and everyone in involved, they may have changed their mind and may be doing something different, but I'm not necessarily interested in doing a television show.
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?"
However, now that the series has landed at Starz, maybe they have the right amount of money to throw at both the production and Shailene Woodley in order to get her back. If the cable network allows the story to play out as they envisioned it would on the big screen, maybe it will all work out in the end. Then again, I can't imagine Starz can afford the entire Divergent cast for an entire season of TV.
Will fans of Divergent still be interested in finishing the story if their favorite characters have to be cast all over again? Woodley and supporting stars like Theo James and Ansel Elgort were a big selling point for fans in the movies, so if they're not around for the TV series, will those same fans still tune in? We'll find out soon enough.