Just a few weeks after Robert Schwentke decided he didn't want to return to direct the final film in the Divergent Series run, Lionsgate has found a potential replacement, with The Age Of Adaline's Lee Toland Krieger in negotiations to take over on Ascendant.
According to the studio, Schwentke's departure was because he simply needed a break after the punishing schedule of producing and promoting two of the films, Insurgent and Allegiant (the latter of which is due in our cinemas this month).
Krieger has so far worked on the indie likes of December Ends, The Vicious Kind and Celeste And Jesse Forever before the bigger budget Adaline, which was released last year starring Blake Lively.
Now he'll be taking on the last step of the Divergent franchise, with Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller and Naomi Watts attached to star, and will likely face scrutiny, especially after fan concerns with how Veronica Roth's third book ended.
As for Allegiant, it finds Woodley's Tris, Four (James) and their ragtag group of friends, enemies and undecideds having won their battle against the machinations of Erudite faction leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet). They’ve discovered, thanks to Tris’ ability to unlock a message, that their shattered, dystopian Chicago is not the final refuge for the human race, but was used as an experiment to development divergents such as our heroine. As for what she can do to save the wider world is a mystery, but she’ll learn more from the mysterious Bureau of Genetic Welfare, which includes new franchise face Jeff Daniels as David. It's out here on March 10.