The upcoming young adult fiction adaptation Divergent won't be out until March, but already the folks at Summit Entertainment are working hard to set up a future for the franchise. With director Neil Burger not attached to the first planned sequel, titled Insurgent, the hunt is on to find a new filmmaker to head up the project, but before the studio settles on a name their doing a bit of work on the screenplay they have. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Akiva Goldsman has been hired to take a look at the script, punch it up, and get the film on the proper path to its 2015 release date.
Based on the trilogy of books by Veronica Roth, Divergent tells the story of Beatrice 'Tris' Prior (Shailene Woodley), a young girl living in a dystopian future where society where the world has been split into five factions based on different virtues - Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. At the age of 16 all citizens of the society learn which faction they belong to, but the big secret is that Tris is actually known as Divergent, which means that she doesn't fit into just one category. Slowly she begins to learn more and more about the behind-the-scenes events of the world, and eventually discovers a shocking truth that could very well change everything. Watch the trailer below to get a better sense of the story:
At this time it's not exactly clear what Goldsman's duty is with Insurgent. The first versions of the script were taken care of by screenwriter Brian Duffield, and it's worth noting that THR doesn't say that the new writer will be starting a completely new draft. At this point it may be too late to start from scratch, as production is scheduled to start up this spring.
Goldsman has long been a go-to guy for Hollywood blockbusters, his career starting with the 1994 courtroom drama The Client, based on the novel by John Grisham. Since then he has found a lot of work alongside Ron Howard, writing movies like A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, and has also scripted movies like Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Lost In Space, I Am Legend and I, Robot. He recently made his feature directorial debut on the upcoming romance Winter's Tale, which you can preview below.
Divergent will be in theaters on March 21st, while its first sequel is already set to come out on March 20, 2015. Are you excited by this newest development?
