Death of YA Movies: Last Divergent Movie going to be Made-for-TV

[Freya]

So the last Divergent film is getting the ax (http://variety.com/2016/film/news/divergent-series-ascendant-1201818694/) and is going to be a made for tv movie, and the cast isn't even saying if they'll be involved.

I watched the first two, haven't seen the last. I think the main actress was lame. The story seemed interesting but her character was blah.

Do you think this will affect YA movie franchises? I really enjoy the Maze Runner so I hope they don't cancel that one's third iteration. Maybe this will just affect splitting final books into two movies. Harry Potter was the only one that needed that.

[Bubba]

The first Divergent film was OK but I turned the second one off about halfway through. I'm not massively surprised they've axed the last film, tbh. I did really enjoy Maze Runner though! I haven't seen the sequel so can't comment too much on that.

I think the problem with YA movies is if they only appeal to young adults... then they'll find critical success difficult. Franchises like Harry Potter and even The Hunger Games were successful as people of all ages enjoyed them. If your film only appeals to a small demographic then you're going to struggle.

[charliepanayi]

It's difficult to keep interest over a number of films. Divergent managed it for two films, which is two more than most attempts at a YA franchise manage, but then they pushed their luck by splitting the final book into two parts, and the third film only made half what its predecessors did. But studios will always keep trying to generate new revenue streams, all the flop attempts like Eragon, Beautiful Creatures and The Mortal Instruments etc haven't stopped them trying over the years.

The Maze Runner's big problem is that the lead actor was seriously injured in an on-set accident, which has meant the third film has been pushed back to 2018 and its currently in limbo. If it does get made, who knows if the interest levels will still be as high by then.