Started December 2018

The Sad Story of The Divergent Series

How an initially promising franchise of films imploded from the inside out

By Zac Langridge

Chapter 3: Sequel

Filming of The Divergent Series: Insurgent (to use its full title), began in May of 2014 with director Robert Schwentke at the helm. With an eager fan-base clamouring for any news of the film, and news outlets such as Hypable reporting on the progress of the franchise, the production moved underway swiftly and completed around December that year. It was an incredibly tight schedule; one can only imagine how quickly pre-production must’ve been, considering Schwentke was brought on around February and filming was set to start a mere four months down the line. In comparison, Neil Burger was brought on to Divergent in August of 2012 (filming started April 2013 and the film was released in March 2014), so there was at least six months less time during Insurgent’s production.
There were a few changes. New cast members had obviously been brought on to play new characters introduced in the books. Just like with the first film, the names were big; Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer and Daniel Dae Kim were among them. Insurgent had also been assigned to a 3D release, a format that was purely experimental and would be dropped for the third film. Schwentke also brought on frequent collaborator from his home-country of Germany, Florian Ballhaus as the cinematographer. A new composer was also hired; Joseph Trapanese replacing Junkie XL.

It now appeared as though, since the characters and world had been set up in the first film, less effort was being put into the second film. Douglas Wick summarised the behind-the-scenes motives in a featurette: “In Divergent we created a world. In Insurgent we’re gonna tear it up!” Ansel Elgort elaborates: “We already have all the characters introduced. Now we can just tell a great story.” A new running theme began throughout the publicity of Insurgent; it would be a film much larger in scope than the first film, with far more room for action and excitement. Typical sequel-bate. Bigger and better.
With Lionsgate clearly anticipating the franchise to be their next Hunger Games (with the finale of that brand being released in December 2015), they made the decision to increase Insurgent’s budget to an estimated $110 million. The producers appeared to jump at the opportunity to make Insurgent far more action-heavy and special effects-freaky than its predecessor. One of the main selling points that convinced the two producers on Robert Schwentke’s vision for the sequel, was his ideas for the film’s look and visuals, particularly during its famous simulation sequences. Wick proclaimed: “One of the most exciting visual possibilities is always the fear landscapes, and he had really extraordinary visual ideas. That’s always been one of Veronica’s great creations, that allows you to sort of play in the world of ‘Inception’.”
Schwentke himself revealed that they gave him and cinematographer Ballhaus free creative control when it came to their expansion on Burger’s interpretation of Roth’s world. "We were free to elaborate, expand, and build upon what Neil and Divergent cinematographer Alwin Küchler had done….Plus, we have new locations….That freed us to invent in ways we thought were right for the narrative. We got to widen the world quite a bit."
Perhaps Wick and Fisher wanted to differentiate their franchise from Lionsgate’s other two, or perhaps they wanted to attract more diverse audiences. Either way you look at it, less attention was put into the story of the film than the technical side of it.

Atlanta was used as a stand-in for Chicago in 2015's Insurgent

There was a downside to this though. Despite having a far larger budget than before, the production would need to save money for the increased action and effects that the producers wanted. In order to reserve money, the series moved production from the city of Chicago (where the books were based, and the first film was shot) to the Georgia-based city of Atlanta, due to its far cheaper and more film-friendly incentives. The consequence of this: Atlanta is not Chicago. Therefore the production would need to find new locations to replace the original locations that had already been established in the first film, as well as incorporate heavy visual effects to “extend sets and unite Chicago skylines with Atlanta locations.” This incentive would throw many fans off, as it caused a feeling of incohesiveness and clash of vision between the first and second films. It’s ironic that Neil Burger chose to film the original movie in Chicago to differentiate his film from other sci-fi adaptations. “You see these movies and they’re set in the future….they all seem to have the same kind of computer generated cityscape….It always seems painted or fake. So I thought, ‘How could I make this movie different? Let’s use Chicago as Chicago, this monumental landscape skyline.'” Some fans would feel a sense of betrayal, as if Burger’s more faithful and better executed vision had been forgotten about and tossed under the bus by the producers, a newer director, and a larger budget.
A particular challenge that the filmmakers were facing with the second film, was adapting a novel that was far more complex than the first book. The Insurgent novel contains far more plot threads, as well as a variety of newer characters fixed in with the surviving characters from the previous book. Screenwriter Goldsman, in mere months, was having to rewrite Duffield’s original script, whilst presumably trimming material and adding newer elements that were invented purely for the movie. In an interview Schwentke discussed the troubles of adapting a novel such as Insurgent. “You can imagine that it is difficult to compress a 500-page work into one film, fortunately we have been given absolute freedom, it was only important to remain true to the characters….In the first part, Tris asked the question: Who am I in a world that I do not know? In the second one it gets more active, the movie actually works according to the rules of a "Lovers On the Run" movie, which I like very much. The concept of looking into someone's head was expanded because it fascinated me. This works as a kind of visual psychotherapy.” Effectively, the story would be changed to fit its on-screen format. The movie would revolve around a McGuffin plot-device, a box that Tris needs to open, where the theme of the movie (learning to forgive oneself) would be conveyed by a barrage of special effects extravaganzas that correspond to our heroine’s emotions.

A teaser trailer for Insurgent was released in late 2014. The overall reaction to it from fans, was mixed to say the least. While some were excited, many responses were confused and speculative. Others were verging on concern. Many highlighted the fact that the scene the teaser entailed (Tris trying to save her mother from a floating, burning house) wasn’t in the book, and it seemed like a far cry from the faithful route that the first film took when adapting the book. Some people however did point out the change in vision and overuse of CGI as off-putting for them. An article from Andrew Sims of Hypable summed up the overall mood.
It should be noted that the filmmakers intended the visual effects sequences in Insurgent to be symbolic of the emotional trauma Tris was going through in the film. Schwentke explained how they tried to “use these Sims to externalise the inner landscapes of the characters, to translate their emotional states and their fears into dramatic sequences….We wanted to find a visual correlative to an emotion.” For example, the slow motion scene of disintegration when Tris fails the Amity Sim, is supposed to be symbolism regarding Tris’ emotional state. The shattering nature of the environment surrounding her could correspond with the idea that her world is falling apart as she apparently dies, and the violence of her raw anger towards Jeanine.
But the trouble is, it’s not made clear. Particularly when you're watching a trailer online, no-one is going to pick up that the special effects have some hidden meaning behind them. Even when you're watching Insurgent from beginning to end, it just comes off as the filmmakers just exploiting their use of CGI to the maximum to demonstrate their huge budget.

Winslet and Woodley face off on the sleek set of Insurgent

Several trailers and several months of fan speculation later, Insurgent was released in March of 2015.
Box office wise, it opened lower than the first film, despite being projected to gross higher. It made a worldwide total of $297 million; it grossed less in North America with $130 million, but it grossed higher overseas with $297 million (largely due to its 3D conversion). Clearly audiences were more hesitant to view this film than the first one.
Critically, Insurgent’s reception was less kind than its predecessor’s. Many critics again cited the film’s similarities to previous YA franchises, as well as its generic premises and plot-points. While Woodley’s performance was praised yet again, and appreciation was shown towards the film’s action sequences and visuals, many pointed out plot-holes, poor dialogue, and characters that had been regressed into cookie-cutter stereotypes for pacing’s sake. Clearly less care had been put into the sequel. And although there were those that enjoyed Insurgent, the core fan-base itself was largely split over the movie. Many were thrown off at the sudden deviations from the source material, as well as the shift in direction and vision for the series. It was a no-win situation; half the fans loved the movie, half were disappointed with it. If Divergent had created a semi-stable foundation to construct a franchise upon, Insurgent had indefinitely cracked or destabilized said-foundations.
Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher had made it clear that if they had a satisfied fan-base, the series would be successful. Despite skeptical critics and unimpressed moviegoers, if the core group of fans stuck around, the series should stay afloat. Therefore, the divisive fan reaction to Insurgent was certainly something the franchise could’ve done without. Adding on the negative reviews and the poor reputation that the series had as nothing but a Hunger Games cash-in, The Divergent Series wasn’t exactly in the strongest position.

And in the year that would follow, a chain of events would take place that would ultimately determine the tragic fate of a series that had started off well, but was deteriorating at an alarming rate.

To be continued...