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When Divergent was first announced, it had all the ingredients to become a successful franchise. The eponymous book that the film was based on had a strong following. The cast had star names like Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet and interesting newcomers like Theo James. Furthermore, Lionsgate (the film’s distribution company) had seen that Young Adult dystopian stories could find massive success. Previously, the studio hit a huge win with The Hunger Games movies. So when the Divergent franchise fizzled out, it was a shock to many people, including the actors.
The plan for the Divergent franchise was always four movies. But while Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant all got made, Ascendant (the planned fourth film) never got the green light. But why was this the case? Despite the fact that Ascendant was set to hit theaters in June 2017, Lionsgate opted to restrategize after its predecessor, Allegiant, underperformed at the box office.
Allegiant made only $66 million domestically. When you compare that number to the $150 million that Divergent made domestically and the $130 million that Insurgent made domestically, it’s clear why Lionsgate felt the need to go back to the drawing board. However, their bid to make the fourth film into a TV movie wasn’t something that the majority of the cast was interested in.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Miles Teller got candid about the idea of turning Ascendant into a TV movie. He shared that the actors were surprised that Lionsgate decided not to move forward with their original plans, but also shared that he and his fellow castmates always intended to see the Divergent franchise through.
“Things do change anytime they’re messing with something that was not the original intention,” Teller shared about the fate of the Divergent franchise. “We all signed on for it in hopes that it’d be released in theaters, and we all had every intention of finishing.”
Continuing on, Teller shared that he had nothing but good things to say about his experience working on the Divergent movies. He also claimed that his fellow castmates would say the same. “I’m not kidding when I say that you won’t find a single actor who worked in that franchise who would have anything bad to say about that experience,” Teller stated. “It’s all good. I’ve got nothing but love for everybody I’ve worked with on that franchise.”
Unfortunately, fans of the Divergent franchise were left hanging. Though Lionsgate continued to talk about a potential TV movie or even a spinoff series, nothing ever came of it. Instead, Tris’ on-screen story ended abruptly, never getting a true ending. Fortunately, the books provided some fans with the closure that they needed. But as many fans found the story’s end to be a polarizing choice, plenty of people found felt that the ending left something to be desired.