‘Divergent’ Franchise Officially Heading To TV With ‘Ascendant’ Series On Starz
Despite making it three films into a franchise, theDivergentbook series will no longer be adapted for the big screen. Instead, the series will continue on cable with Starz developing the TV series version ofAscendant, the final chapter of the series based onVeronica Roth’s book series.
The biggest question fans probably have is who from theDivergentfilm 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 theDivergentseries will be involved in the show. Find out more about theAscendantTV series below.
The Hollywood Reporterhas the news on Starz developing theAscendantTV series, which will haveTarzanwriterAdam Cozadwriting the script, just as he was hired to do for the scrapped film version. Cozad will also serve as executive producer on the series alongsideAge of AdalinedirectorLee Toland Krieger, who was previously set to direct theAscendantmovie 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 seriesBig 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:
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 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 entireDivergentcast for an entire season of TV.
Will fans ofDivergentstill be interested in finishing the story if their favorite characters have to be cast all over again? Woodley and supporting stars likeTheo JamesandAnsel Elgortwere 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.
