If you were a fan of The Hunger Games, then you will definitely enjoy the worldwide bestselling novel Divergent, whose movie adaptation hits theaters next weekend. 16 million copies of Veronica Roth’s young adult trilogy are sure to be a hit in the box office.
The New York Times best-seller and highly anticipated film is a story that will keep you on your toes. Divergent is the first book of the trilogy that is set in the futuristic Chicago. It is about a totalitarian society that is divided into factions of personality types known as Candor for honesty, Erudite for wisdom, Amity for kindness, Dauntless for bravery and Abnegation for selflessness. The main character, Abnegation-born, Beatrice “Tris” Prior, is a 16-year-old heroine who wants to fight against the dystopian society. Each member of the society goes through an aptitude test when they are old enough which tells them the faction in which they belong. They can either leave their family’s faction or choose another and leave their family behind.
Tris, however, receives inconclusive results, which makes her a Divergent. She is warned to keep her identity of Divergent a secret from everyone. She chooses to leave her family behind to become a member of the Dauntless faction. Throughout initiation, she discovers her strength, how to fight and how to face her biggest fears. Throughout this process, she meets an 18-year-old boy named Four Eaton who is her instructor and they begin an unanticipated romance. Four and Tris have the type of relationship that makes everyone obsess over. Throughout the novel, Four, Tris and their friends fight against their society along with Erudite representative, Jeanine Matthews, who wants to rid of Divergents and overthrow the government while killing people in the process. Besides romance, it is also a thriller with lots of action and adventure.
The film is directed by Neil Burger, who is a writer as well, and is best known for The Illusionist, Limitless and The Lucky Ones. Tris Prior and Four Eaton are played by The Descendants star Shailene Woodley and Theo James who has starred in Downton Abbey and Underworld: Awakening. Oscar winner Kate Winslet is another lead in the film who plays the evil Jeanine Matthews.
According to Variety.com, the movie is thought to gross in the low 50 millions in the box office and a total gross of 175 million. Since the book series has done so well with teen girls, the movie is on track to be a hit. Summit Entertainment has also set up production plans for the Divergent trilogy sequels Insurgent and Allegiant,which are set to release in March 2015 and 2016 respectively.
CBSnews.com reports author Veronica Roth’s reaction to the movie from her blog: “I loved it, ” Roth said. “I was completely absorbed by it. Even though I am so familiar with this story, I clearly remember grabbing the arms of my chair when Tris runs to catch the train after the Choosing.” She also makes a comment on how the film was “brilliantly shot.”
Be sure to read the book before you see the movie because it is worth every page and the movie is bound to be a box office success. Divergent hits theaters Friday March 21.
