When Shailene Woodley and co reach the final stage of their Divergent journey, they'll be doing it without director Robert Schwentke. The man who has so far handled Insurgent and Allegiant (the second a third films respectively), has decided not to return for Ascendant.
That's despite previously planning to stay on board for the rest of the franchise adapted from Veronica Roth's books. So why the change? There's no official statement yet, but Deadline has heard that the grueling demands of the dystopian sci-fi films means he needs a break.
But with a summer shoot scheduled and a June 9, 2017 release for the new movie already on the books, Lionsgate will now have to find someone quickly to work on that final film.
Allegiant, meanwhile, arrives in UK cinemas on March 10. It'll find his new movie, in case you were unaware, finds Woodley's Tris, Four (Theo 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.