The Divergent movie series followed the Hunger Games saga, but they were nowhere near as successful because of source material challenges and timing.
Summary
- Divergent failed to match the success of The Hunger Games due to differences in writing quality, faithfulness to the books, and character choices.
- The timing of the last Divergent movie's release worked against its popularity, as interest in YA dystopian narratives was waning.
- Divergent's approach to narration and utilization of the cast members did not live up to the level of excellence achieved by The Hunger Games .
The Divergent series failed to achieve the same commercial success and critical acclaim as its predecessor, the Hunger Games saga, and there are some reasons why. Divergent follows Shailene Woodley's Beatrice "Tris" Prior, the counterpart of Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, in a society where people are divided into factions based on core personality traits. The Divergent books by Veronica Roth closely followed The Hunger Games taking off and were initially very popular among fans of the previous series, but the movies never reached their full potential.
There are several reasons why the Hunger Games movies were more successful than the Divergent franchise, including writing quality, faithfulness to the books, and opportunities for talented cast members to shine. However, the Divergent series also flopped for reasons outside the moviemakers' control. The combination of those issues resulted in a fourth Divergent movie never happening, with the saga never receiving a proper conclusion on screen.
6 Hunger Games Was More Faithful To Its Books Than Divergent
Hunger Games Was A Better Adaptation.
While the Hunger Games movies eliminated some book scenes because of limited screen time, they follow the overall plot of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games books. Quicker ways for characters to get from one point to another that require less exposition are written. For example, Katniss acquires her Mockingjay pin from a vendor at the black market instead of from her friend Madge as she does in the book, so the movie does not have to spend time explaining who Madge is. But the core parts of the story remain. On the other hand, the second Divergent movie introduces original elements that do not come across well.
A large part of Insurgent (2015) is dedicated to a mysterious box containing a message from the city's founders that can only be opened by a particular Divergent, or a person who fits into more than one personality category. While the books do suggest that Tris is different from other Divergents because she exhibits traits of three categories rather than just two, the movie takes it too far by having the evil Erudite faction possess devices to measure the percentage of one's Divergence. Insurgent turns into a video-game-style plot where Tris has to pass a test for each faction, even though she is not associated with Amity or Candor.
5 The YA Genre's Decreasing Popularity
Allegiant Came At The End Of The YA Dystopia Era.
As the Hunger Games movie series ended, interest in YA dystopias went down as audiences grew tired of stories that shared too many obvious elements with The Hunger Games .
For a few years, young adult dystopian narratives dominated the book and movie industry. The Hunger Games not only inspired Divergent, but The Maze Runner by James Dashner as well. Any property in this genre drew legions of fans and made for promising movie IPs. However, as the Hunger Games movie series ended, interest in YA dystopias went down as audiences grew tired of stories that shared too many obvious elements with The Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games had the benefit of hype because it inspired the genre's popularity and was arguably the first major global hit to come out of this particular genre. The final Divergent movie, Allegiant (2016), came out at the end YA dystopian era. The final Maze Runner movie came out two years later and managed to turn a profit, but still did not live up to the height of The Hunger Games. However, partially because of the timing, Allegiant bombed at the box office and the discussed plans to make a TV movie of the final installment, Ascendent was eventually canceled.
4 Divergent's Narration Approach Didn't Work
The Franchises Approached First-Person Narration Differently.
Both the Hunger Games and Divergent books are narrated in the first person by Katniss and Tris respectively, with the final Divergent book alternating between Tris and her partner Tobias Eaton (Theo James). However, the first Hunger Games movie discards the narration. Instead, it uses opening title cards, additional dialogue, and having the actors show rather than tell, to give the audience additional plot details that Katniss explains in the book.
On the other hand, the Divergent movie retains some of Tris' narration, including her explaining the faction system and expressing her dilemma over which faction to choose for herself. The introduction would have been less forced if the movie had followed The Hunger Games' example of an opening title card for world-building, instead of having Tris explain it for no one's benefit except the audience. Additionally, Woodley, like Lawrence, is an Oscar-nominated actress who does not need explicit dialogue to establish that she is unsure of her future, especially since choosing one faction in which to spend the rest of her life is obviously a stressful decision.
3 Hunger Games Used Its Cast Better
Divergent did not use their A-listers well.
The popularity of The Hunger Games managed to attract an impressive cast to play the adult characters, including Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, and Mahershala Ali. The Divergent series features Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Daniel Dae Kim, and Maggie Q. However, Divergent did not give its all-star cast the chance to show off.
The Hunger Games saga includes more adult characters who are allies of the young adult characters, allowing for more nuanced interactions. Harrelson plays Katniss and Peeta Mellark's (Josh Hutcherson) mentor, Banks their escort Effie Trinket, and Kravitz Katniss' stylist Cinna. Katniss even has some subtle, intriguing discussions with Sutherland, who plays the main villain President Snow. In Divergent, the older cast plays villains whose scenes are dominated by Tris and Tobias shouting at them, parents and mentors who offer generic advice, or other characters who have minimal roles. None of them have the dialogue to match their talents.
2 Divergent’s Failed Fourth Movie Promise
When the two-part movie trend stops working.
It was briefly common for the final installment in a series to be split into two movies. J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows certainly included enough material for two movies. Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn and Mockingjay not so much, but the hype surrounding these franchises made them profitable. However, by the end of the Divergent series, it was clear that the two-part movie finale was only a cash-grabbing strategy. If Divergent had recognized that the YA dystopia hype was dying down and wrapping things up was for the best, more people might have been able to uncritically enjoy Allegiant, knowing that it would be the last movie.
1 Divergent & Hunger Games Never Had The Same Potential
Divergent just isn't as good as The Hunger Games.
While the big YA tropes such as a love triangle, a strong main heroine, and a rebellion against a corrupt system do make up a large part of the Hunger Games saga, the books still include allusions to bigger ideas about human nature and tyrannical governments, which are minimized but touched upon in the movies.The Hunger Games is inspired by various movies, books, and historical events. The phrase "Panem et circenses," for which the country of Panem is named, refers to the idea of appeasing a population with food and entertainment in exchange for control and originated in ancient Rome.
Divergent is based on an implausible scenario where society has come to accept that people can only be honest, brave, kind, etc., and only very rarely exhibit more than one trait. It involves an evil government for the young protagonists to rebel against, but it has almost no implications in the real world. Divergent ultimately never had the chance of matching The Hunger Games' success as a movie series, although it could certainly have been at least more successful than it was had some things been done better.
The Divergent Series
- Created by:
- Veronica Roth
- First Film:
- Divergent
- Cast:
- Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney
- Movie(s):
- Divergent, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, The Divergent Series: Ascendant
- Character(s):
- Beatrice Prior, Tobias Eaton, Christina (Divergent), Peter Hayes, Caleb Prior, Marcus Eaton, Tori Wu, Jeanine Matthews, Natalie Prior, Eric Coulter
