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?