The Divergent Series: Allegiant

This article is about the film. For the novel, see Allegiant (novel).
The Divergent Series: Allegiant

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on Allegiant 
by Veronica Roth
Starring
Music by Joseph Trapanese
Cinematography Florian Ballhaus
Edited by Stuart Levy
Production
companies
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Release dates
  • March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18) (United States)
Running time
 120 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110 million[2]
Box office $158.5 million[3]

The Divergent Series: Allegiant (also known simply as Allegiant, as credited onscreen) is a 2016 American science fiction adventure film directed by Robert Schwentke with a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky, Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, and Noah Oppenheim. It is the first of two cinematic parts based on the novel Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, and the third installment in The Divergent Series,[4][5] produced by Lucy Fisher, Pouya Shabazian, and Douglas Wick.

The film stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Bill Skarsgård, and Naomi Watts. It is the sequel to Insurgent and will be followed by the concluding entry, Ascendant (Allegiant and Ascendant were originally to be titled Allegiant – Part 1 and Allegiant – Part 2).[6]

Allegiant was released on March 18, 2016 in theaters and IMAX[7] and was panned by critics.[8] The film also underperformed at the box office, grossing $65.5 million domestically and $93 million in foreign markets.[3] This led to budget cuts on the fourth and final installment in the series, Ascendant, set to be released on June 9, 2017.[9]

Plot

Many Chicago citizens run towards the wall, and soldiers under Evelyn are told to shut down the perimeter, and no one is allowed through. Evelyn directs Jack Kang of Candor to hold trials for the Erudite and Dauntless conspirators, a number of them becoming executions, starting with Max. Evelyn and Johanna attempt to pressure Tris and Four into taking leadership positions in the new coalition, but both refuse. After seeing that the hostile situation within the city is only going to get worse, Tris escapes with Four, Caleb, Christina, Tori, and Peter to journey beyond the wall that encloses Chicago, although Tori is killed by Edgar in the attempt.

The group is ambushed by Edgar, who is later disabled by an armed group of individuals and airships. The soldiers take the group to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a highly advanced city where they learn that years ago, the government believed that society's problems were caused by "damaged genes". In an attempt to create a better society, they began to modify people's genes, with disastrous results. The government set up "experiments" in an attempt to repair this mistake, establishing isolated cities across the remains of the United States. The hope was to raise enough genetically pure Divergent individuals to fix the "genetic damage" left in the wake of the Purity War.

Tris and Four are tested by Matthew and Nita to verify and study their Divergence. Tris is shown to be truly Divergent, but Four's genetic structure indicates that his genes are still "damaged". Caleb and Peter are assigned to surveillance teams that monitor Chicago. Matthew then brings Tris to the leader of the Bureau, David. David gives Tris a device that allows her to view her mother's memories, and sees that her mother was rescued and adopted by the Bureau before volunteering to join the Chicago experiment out of dedication to the project. In return for his help in restoring peace to Chicago, Tris agrees to help David, who claims that only the council he reports to has the power to intervene.

Meanwhile, Four and Christina train with Nita and joins the Bureau's military force. They join the military on a rescue mission to a nearby wasteland village, though Four becomes mistrusting of the Bureau's intentions after realizing that they were going there to kidnap and forcefully integrate those children into the Bureau's populace. Upon their return, Four discreetly petitions Caleb to keep an eye on the situation in Chicago. Four also attempts to warn Tris of the Bureau's intentions, but she rejects his ideas.

Caleb warns Four of a rapidly escalating conflict back in Chicago between Johanna's group of Allegiants and Evelyn's factionless, with open war becoming an imminent threat. Four appeals to Tris for her to return to Chicago with him to end the bloodshed, but she decides to go with David to Providence to meet with the council. David agrees to reinsert Four back in Chicago, escorted by Matthew and some Bureau soldiers. Once in the air, Matthew quietly reveals to Four that the flight is a trap and he is meant to be killed. A skirmish breaks out and Four defeats all of the soldiers, though the airship crashes as a result. Matthew gives Four his ID card to get through the cloak wall, saying that he doesn't believe in David's work anymore and that he wants to help. Four proceeds to Chicago while Matthew remains behind to be rescued by the Bureau and warn Tris.

Meanwhile, Tris and David meet with the council. Tris disagrees with the council's objectives and criticizes how they have done nothing to stop the violence in Chicago. The council responds that David had the power to intervene whenever he desired, revealing that he had lied to her from the beginning. Tris remarks during the return flight to the Bureau that she never should have trusted him, ending their partnership. Upon her return, she gathers Caleb and Christina in David's airship to return to Chicago, and Nita aids them in escaping.

Four is captured by the factionless and confronts Evelyn to end the violence, though she shows no intention of standing down. Tris, Caleb, and Christina arrive shortly after to find the city tearing itself apart at the opening stage of a full assault by the Allegiant. David makes a deal with Peter in exchange for Peter's promotion and inserts him into Chicago to convince Evelyn to deploy a hidden Bureau stockpile of gas to wipe the memories of the attackers and force a peace in her favor, to which she reluctantly agrees. Peter takes her to a vault where she can deploy the gas across the city but remain safe herself, making her the only individual in Chicago who will remember any of those events.

Tris and Christina fight through the factionless and arrive at the vault, having rescued Four along the way. At the vault door, Four convinces Evelyn to stop the gas attack, as he wouldn't remember who she was if she carried it out. She folds and stops the release, and is shot by a frustrated Peter. Peter gloats in his victory until the same gas starts releasing inside the vault as well. Realizing David has betrayed him, Peter opens the vault so Tris and Four can stop the gas release and flees back towards the cloak wall, as Four says he will find him and make him pay for badly wounding his mother.

Caleb arrives and aids Tris in destroying the gas dispersion hub, stopping the release. The main characters gather atop the Erudite building as they watch the stolen shuttle fly back towards the Bureau, heavily laden with explosives. Tris transmits a message to the whole city, revealing to them the existence of the Bureau and that Chicago was an experiment of the Pure. Her message to the Bureau is that Chicago is no longer their experiment, but the home of its citizens. Caleb detonates the explosives at the end of the message, tearing a massive hole through the cloak wall and revealing the two cities to each other. The film ends with the Chicago characters gazing at the Bureau in the distance, with David standing behind Tris via his machine, glaring at her.

Cast

Production

Pre-production

In December 2013, Summit Entertainment announced that the film adaptation of Allegiant, the third and final novel in the Divergent trilogy, would be released in March 2016, serving as the finale of the series, which at the time was planned as a trilogy.[5] On April 11, 2014, the studio decided to split the novel into a two-part film, much like the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games franchises did with the finales of their series. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chairmen Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger said in a statement that, "Veronica Roth brings her captivating story to a masterful conclusion in ‘Allegiant,’ a rich, action-packed book with material that is ideally suited to two strong and fulfilling movies. The storytelling arc and world of the characters lend themselves perfectly to two films, a storytelling strategy that has worked very well for us on the two ‘Twilight Breaking Dawn’ films and about which we’re tremendously enthusiastic for the two upcoming ‘Mockingjay’ films of ‘The Hunger Games’ franchise".[13] On July 9, 2014, Noah Oppenheim was announced as the screenwriter for the first part of the Allegiant adaptation.[14] On December 5, 2014, it was announced that Robert Schwentke would return to direct Part 1.[15] On September 10, 2015, it was announced that the two-part finale would be re-titled, with Part 1 being renamed as The Divergent Series: Allegiant and Part 2 as The Divergent Series: Ascendant.[16]

Casting

In March 2015, it was confirmed that Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoë Kravitz, Maggie Q, Naomi Watts, Miles Teller, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Octavia Spencer would all reprise their roles from the previous films.[17]

On April 28, 2015, it was reported that Jeff Daniels had joined the cast as David, the leader of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.[10] On May 1, 2015, it was announced that Bill Skarsgård had joined the cast as Matthew.[11]

Filming

Filming began on May 18, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia[18][19] and concluded on August 23, 2015. From June 11 to June 23, filming took place at the Lindale Mill in Lindale, Georgia, where the set was being built in late May.[20]

Music

In December 2015, it was confirmed that Joseph Trapanese would return to compose the score for the film. The first track for the Allegiant soundtrack, "Scars", written by Tove Lo, Jakob Jerlström, Ludvig Söderberg, and performed by Tove Lo, was released as a single on February 19, 2016.

Promotion

A teaser trailer was released on September 15, 2015, followed by a full-length trailer two months later, on November 12, 2015. Another full-length trailer was released on January 22, 2016.

Reception

Box office

As of April 28, 2016, Allegiant has grossed $65.2 million in North America and $90.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $155.9 million.[3] Due to its underperformance, The Hollywood Reporter called it "the second big-budget miss for Lionsgate this year after Gods of Egypt."[21] Many critics have blamed the underperformance of the film on Lionsgate's decision to split the last novel into two pictures.[22][23] As a result, Lionsgate will cut the budget of the fourth and final movie in the series, Ascendant.[9] Despite the box office struggles of Allegiant, Lionsgate still plans to debut the film on June 9, 2017, where it will face competition from Paramount's World War Z 2 and Universal's reboot of The Mummy.[24] Made on a total budget of $183.6 million, including net production budget, advertising and promotion costs, and domestic home entertainment costs, Deadline.com projects the film to make a mere profit of $3.5 million should it earn a net total of $187.1 million from various platforms (including theatrical revenues, TV rights and DVD sales). By comparison, Divergent made a net profit of $71.8 million and Insurgent $30.6 million.[25]

In the United States and Canada, Deadline.com projected the film to make around $28–30 million in its opening weekend from 3,740 theaters, which would make it the lowest opening among the franchise.[2] It earned the lowest previews among the series, with $2.35 million from 2,800 theaters.[26] On its opening day, it made $11.9 million (including previews), down 43.6% from Insurgent, becoming the first film in the series to fail to open with over $20 million. Scott Mendelson of Forbes compared the decline in opening day to the third installment of The Chronicles of Narnia film series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which had a similar amount of drop.[27] In comparison, the third Hunger Games film, Mockingjay – Part 1 fell only 21% from its previous film.[27] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $29 million from 3,740 theaters, finishing second at the box office behind Zootopia. It was the first film of the franchise to not finish in first at the box office, and its opening was 46% below Divergent's and 44% behind Insurgent's.[28][29] Lionsgate president of domestic distribution Richard Fay labeled the opening "pretty solid."[23] As a result of the poor opening, Lionsgate's stock fell the next day, on Monday.[30][22] Due to Allegiant's poor box-office resulting in Lionsgate's stock declining 3.3% by 72 cents to $21.13 in trading, Moody's Investors Service lowered Lionsgate's Speculative Grade Liquidity rating from SGL-2 to SGL-3.[31]

The Divergent Series: Allegiant also struggled internationally where Lionsgate does not have operations in most countries and sells distribution rights to partners.[23] It opened in 45 international markets a week ahead of its US debut, from March 9,[32] and will receive a scattered release worldwide. Unlike its predecessor Insurgent, Lionsgate decided to not to have a day and date release for Allegiant, instead intending to take advantage of various school holidays in international markets, and at the same time avoid competition with Walt Disney's animated Zootopia.[33] Allegiant took the top spot in its opening day in France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.[33] In its opening weekend, it earned $25.2 million from over 7,000 screens in 45 countries.[34] It added 32 markets in its second weekend, earning a total of $22 million from 77 countries, which is down 13%.[35] The top openings were in France ($5 million), Brazil ($2.7 million), the United Kingdom and Ireland ($2.6 million), Mexico ($2.5 million).[34][35] In the United Kingdom, it posted the lowest opening in the series, opening at No. 2 behind Kung Fu Panda 3 including previews, which is 37% behind the opening of Insurgent.[36]

Critical response

The Divergent Series: Allegiant was panned by critics, who criticized the lack of originality and character advancement.[37][23] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 12%, based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Allegiant improves on previous entries in The Divergent Series on a few superficial levels, but they aren't enough to counteract a sense of growing boredom with a franchise that's gone on too long."[38] Metacritic gives the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[39] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[2]

Sequel

The final film in the series, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, will be released on June 9, 2017.[40] It was originally scheduled to be released on March 24, 2017, but in December 2015, Lionsgate placed the upcoming reboot of Power Rangers in Ascendant's former release date.[40][7]

On February 8, 2016, it was confirmed that Schwentke would not return to direct the final film.[41] Three weeks later, Lionsgate announced that Lee Toland Krieger would replace Schwentke as the director of the film.[42]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Anthony D'Alessandro (March 18, 2016). "‘Allegiant’ Posts Lowest Opening In ‘Divergent Series’: Was It Wise To Split The Last Novel Into Two Movies?". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  4. ↑ "‘Insurgent’ Director Robert Schwentke Returning for ‘Allegiant Part 1′ (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  5. 1 2 "Lionsgate Splitting Third ‘Divergent’ Book ‘Allegiant’ into Two Films". Variety.
  6. ↑ Evry, Max. "The Divergent Series’ Last Two Films Renamed Allegiant and Ascendant". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 "THIRD BOOK IN VERONICA ROTH'S BLOCKBUSTER DIVERGENT TRILOGY, ALLEGIANT, WILL BE PRODUCED AND RELEASED AS TWO SEPARATE FILMS". LIONSGATE. LIONSGATE. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  8. ↑ THR staff (March 18, 2016). "'Divergent Series: Allegiant' Gets Panned by Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Stephen Galloway and Pamela McClintock (March 21, 2016). "Lionsgate to Slash 'Ascendant' Budget as 'Divergent' Franchise Fizzles". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Kit, Borys (28 April 2015). "Jeff Daniels Joining 'Divergent' Series in Key Role (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  11. 1 2 Sneider, Jeff; Ge, Linda (1 May 2015). "Hemlock Groves Bill Skarsgard to join Shailene Woodley in Divergent sequel Allegiant exclusive". The Wrap. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  12. ↑ https://divergentfaction.wordpress.com/2015/05/21/lionsgate-announces-casting-of-nadia-hilker-as-nita-start-of-production-on-allegiant/
  13. ↑ Dave McNary. "Lionsgate Splitting Third ‘Divergent’ Book ‘Allegiant’ into Two Films". Variety.
  14. ↑ "'Divergent' Threequel 'Allegiant' Taps 'Maze Runner' Writer (Exclusive)".
  15. ↑ "‘Insurgent’ Director Robert Schwentke Returning for ‘Allegiant Part 1′ (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  16. ↑ Mia Galuppo (September 10, 2015). "Final Two 'Divergent' Films Get New Titles, Logos". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Divergent: Allegiant Part 1 Update: Production, Cast: Jeff Daniels and Bill Skarsgard as 'main bads'? Will Tris die in the sequel?". Venture Capital Post. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Foutch, Haleigh (March 7, 2015). "Todd Lieberman Offers Updates on Allegiant and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast". collider.com. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  19. ↑ McNary, Dave (28 April 2015). "Jeff Daniels Joins Final ‘Divergent’ Movies". Variety. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  20. ↑ "‘Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1′ filming in Lindale, GA June 11- 23". onlocationvacations.com. May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  21. ↑ Pamela McClintock (March 20, 2016). "Box Office: 'Divergent 3' Stalls With Series-Low $29.1M; 'Zootopia' Nears $600M Globally". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  22. 1 2 Brent Lang (March 21, 2016). "‘Allegiant’ Stumbles, Lionsgate Stock Slides on Faltering ‘Divergent’ Series". Variety. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Ben Fritz (March 20, 2016). "‘Divergent Series: Allegiant’ Stumbles at the Box Office". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  24. ↑ Dave McNary and Brent Lang (March 21, 2016). "Next ‘Divergent’ Sequel Sticks With Summer Release Despite ‘Allegiant’s’ Box Office Troubles". Variety. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  25. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (March 21, 2016). "After Lionsgate’s ‘Divergent’ YA Series Breaks Down At The B.O., Can ‘Allegiant’ Possibly Turn A Profit". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  26. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (March 18, 2016). "‘Allegiant’ Posts Third-Highest Preview In ‘Divergent’ Series – Thursday Box Office". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  27. 1 2 Scott Mendelson (March 19, 2016). "Friday Box Office: 'Divergent Series: Allegiant' Tops With Series-Low $11.9M, 'The Bronze' Bombs". Forbes. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  28. ↑ Scott Mendelson (March 20, 2016). "Weekend Box Office: 'Divergent: Allegiant' Crumbles, 'Miracles From Heaven' Nabs Divine Debut". Forbes. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  29. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (March 20, 2016). "‘Allegiant’ Gang Mauled By ‘Zootopia’ Animals As ‘Miracles’ Happen – Sunday Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  30. ↑ Etan Vlessing (March 21, 2016). "Lionsgate Stock Falls as Analysts Assess 'Allegiant' Damage". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  31. ↑ Dave McNary (April 1, 2016). "Moody’s Lowers Lionsgate Outlook, Blames ‘Allegiant’". Variety. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  32. ↑ Scott Mendelson (March 9, 2016). "Box Office: 'The Divergent Series' Succeeded Despite Not Being Different". Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  33. 1 2 Anthony D'Alessandro (March 10, 2016). "‘Divergent Series: Allegiant’ Hits The Overseas Box Office Battlefield, Targets $30M-$40M Opening". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  34. 1 2 Nancy Tartaglione (March 13, 2016). "‘Allegiant’ Pledges $26.7M; ‘Zootopia’ Hops With $83M 5th Frame – Intl B.O. Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  35. 1 2 Nancy Tartaglione (March 21, 2016). "‘Zootopia’ A Flash Away From $600M WW; China Welcomes ‘The Revenant’ With $31M Bow – Intl B.O. Final". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  36. ↑ Charles Gant (March 15, 2016). "Kung Fu Panda 3 chops Allegiant down to size at UK box office". The Guardian. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  37. ↑ THR staff (March 18, 2016). "'Divergent Series: Allegiant' Gets Panned by Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  38. ↑ "The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  39. ↑ "The Divergent Series: Allegiant reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  40. 1 2 McNary, Dave (December 17, 2015). "‘Power Rangers,’ Final ‘Divergent’ Movie’s Release Dates Moved Back". Variety. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Robert Schwentke Exits ‘Divergent’ Finale ‘Ascendant’". Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  42. ↑ "Ascendant Lands Age of Adaline’s Lee Toland Krieger to Direct Divergent Finale". Retrieved 1 March 2016.

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