The Fault in Our Spectacular Now continues!
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of The Divergent Series: Insurgent...
Oh yeah, this is a franchise as complicated
as its title - and casting. See, The Spectacular
Now and especially The Fault in Our Stars
were two very recent teen romances that attracted
a lot of media attention for being unusually
well-acted. They made Shailene Woodley a star,
who appeared in both, and also her leading
men Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort. Teller
has gotten even more of boost recently thanks
to co-starring in this year’s Oscar darling
Whiplash. Hmm, maybe JK Simmons could play
the villainous David in Allegiant? That would
certainly keep with this franchise’s incestous
theme, repairing Woodley with her leading
men - although neither one plays her love
interest here. But perhaps their presence
is why her Divergent love interest, Theo James,
hasn’t been able to make the same impression
on viewers as Teller and Elgort. And while
The Divergent Series struggles in the shadows
of The Spectacular Now and The Fault in Our
Stars, it also finds itself in the shadow
of The Hunger Games! So perhaps the most important
goal with this sequel is for The Divergent
Series to finally forge its own identity,
before another franchise is able to wrestle
away The Hunger Games crown as that franchise
comes to an end. Obviously Lionsgate/Summit
would love to keep the mantle in-house, as
Hunger Games and Divergent are both their
franchises. Yet Fox’s The Maze Runner has
turned into a formidable competitor - taking
in considerably more money at the box office
with a far smaller budget. Plus The Maze Runner
is a refreshing change of pace, featuring
a male lead and actors that you HAVEN’T
seen together before. Plus The Maze Runner
has many similarities story-wise to the final
installment of Divergent, Allegiant - and
its second film, The Scorch Trials, hits theaters
this September while Allegiant Part 1 debuts
next year in March 2016. But a new director
and new screenwriting duo could definitely
help Insurgent form its own identity, and
the increased action sequences and special
effects could also help. They’d better though,
as Insurgent has a budget of one hundred and
ten million, which is Hunger Games level.
There are also some new additions to the cast
- Naomi Watts and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer
- who might be able to increase the franchise’s
appeal to adult viewers ala Philip Seymour
Hoffman and Julianne Moore? Hmm, but then,
they’d have to actually focus on Watts and
Spencer in the marketing campaign for that
to work...and that seems to be something Lionsgate/Summit
isn’t willing to do. So, can Robert Schwentke
- who directed The Time Traveler’s Wife,
Red and RIPD - do for The Divergent Series
what Francis Lawrence did for The Hunger Games?
Or is this series destined to be only be a
faint echo of The Hunger Games - and a yearbook
for young Hollywood?
