Ascendant Film

[Gladys Anick]

Ascendantor 'The Divergent Series: Ascendant' was to be a drama series on Starz- the second part of the film adaptation of Allegiant by Veronica Roth. It was set to be directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Legend of Tarzan screenwriter, Adam Cozad. It was eventually cancelled, some sources claim that this was due to actors quitting participation.

Beatrice Prior and Tobias Eaton venture into the world outside of the fence and are taken into protective custody by a mysterious agency known as the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. They discover the unknown truths of their real world in the second and final part of the thrilling ending to the Divergent Series.

After the underperformance of Allegiant at the Box Office, Lionsgate announced there would be a TV film that will lead to a spin-off television series. On September 16, in a conference call with fansites, Lionsgate officially confirmed the rumors that Ascendant will not have a theatrical release and will be played out in a TV project. They are actively searching for networks and once decided that the network will choose whether they want to do a TV Film or TV Series to finish off the series.

The Divergent Series: Ascendant was supposed to wrap up the sci-fi saga, but Divergent 4 was abandoned, leaving the series unfinished. Following the success of The Hunger Games franchise, there was a slew of short-lived movie adaptations of young adult sci-fi novels, including The Divergent Series. Based on the best-selling series by Veronica Roth, the Divergent movies featured a cast of up-and-coming actors, including Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, and Zo Kravitz. The series ended abruptly when the fourth Divergent movie was canceled with the intention of beginning a new television project, leaving the questions of the final Divergent book unanswered.

The Divergent series is set in a futuristic society where people are divided into factions based on their virtues: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Those who don't fit are "divergent." While Divergent and its sequel The Divergent Series: Insurgent were hits, they failed to match the success as The Hunger Games. After the financial disappointment of The Divergent Series: Allegiant, the film's executives decided to try wrapping up the series with a TV movie version of The Divergent Series: Ascendant, which was rumored to kill off Shailene Woodley's Tris to continue the story in a television series.

Prior to the release of The Divergent Series: Allegiant, there were already signs that the general public's interest in the franchise was waning. The second movie only topped the original's total gross by a tiny margin. When Allegiant grossed less than $180 million worldwide, compared to the $300 million Insurgent made the year before (via Box Office Mojo), the studios realized they could no longer confidently invest in the YA dystopian movies for a considerable profit at the box office.

The first movie in the series was estimated to cost $80 million, while the third had a budget of $110 million. Even with a move to TV, the audience would have expected the same quality as the movies, something that was unlikely to happen if the budget was cut drastically.

Cast members like Miles Teller and Zoe Kravitz were already moving on to bigger roles and projects, so the odds of convincing them to return were always slim. Splitting the last Divergent book into two films was ultimately what killed the series' conclusion, and demonstrates the danger of splitting a story into two parts. For if the first film doesn't do well financially, then the series will ultimately be abandoned and disappoint both the filmmakers and the audience.

Certainly one of the factors in the early end to the Divergent series and the cancelation of Divergent4 was the critical response. Despite the popular source material, a strong cast, and solid initial box office, the Divergent movies were never well-regarded by critics. Divergent began with a lukewarm 41% on Rotten Tomatoes, and regardless of the strong box office, that was not a strong way to kick off the franchise. Sadly, the critic scores went down from there, with Insurgent earning 28% and Allegiant earning 11%.

In general, the negative reviews pointed to the lack of originality in the series which was accused of adhering too much to a YA formula. Bad reviews are not always enough to sink a franchise, but when the reviews continue to decline as the series goes on, it usually doesn't bode well for future movies. Indeed, the reviews also made the cast members less enthusiastic about continuing on with many of the actors openly admitting the franchise had lost its way.

While it seems like The Divergent Series: Ascendant is unlikely to ever be revived as a project, Hollywood loves a known brand name with an established fan base, and it will be difficult to imagine the Divergent franchise not returning to the screen in some form down the line. Considering there are multiple streaming services vying for audience attention, Divergent could make a comeback on a streaming platform.

With the Percy Jackson franchise rebooted on Disney+, another streaming service may reboot the Divergent series to keep up with the competition. So, even though Summit Entertainment, which owns the rights to the franchise, will not be reviving the sci-fi saga anytime soon, that does not mean that the property will be dead forever. After all, the Divergent movies were still profitable, making over $765 million worldwide.

Writing in The Australian David Stratton gave it 2 stars stating "The film is likely to prove as great an ordeal for the audience as it is for its luckless heroine."[3] The Canberra Times's Ron Cerabona gives it a 3 star review noting "while sometimes hard to follow and with some contrived or implausible elements, is impressively atmospheric, well made and well acted."[4] In New Zealand's Waikato Times James Croot give it 2 stars and finishes "Visually impressive, this Australian production may well lead to bigger things for the clearly talented Furlong, but narratively, it's a barely coherent mess that feels like a desperate cinematic placeholder until the global movie industry gets back up to speed."[5]

As with my review of the second movie in the series, Mythica: The Darkspore, I will not waste time here with background information. For more information on the Mythica series and on Arrowstorm Entertainment itself, check out my reviews of the previous two films in the series: Mythica 1, Mythica 2.

While the main plot of the film, until near the end, is technically what a game would likely label a side-quest, I really enjoyed the darker tone both that plot and the conflict with Szorlok and his forces at the end. While there have been deaths in this series before, it still felt fairly lighthearted, and you were reasonably certain that the main cast was going to emerge unscathed. Without spoiling anything, this film went to a much darker place, as befits the middle of the series, which served to impart on viewers that there is indeed a serious threat to the world that our heroes must face, and that victory is not assured.

My review of the next film should follow soon, and then I hope to finally get back to posting here regularly again. For real this time, and with posts beyond book and movie reviews. Until then, keep on reading and writing, and feel free to follow me on Twitter @YakovMerkin , where I more regularly post about various things, including writing and other genre stuff.

Initially, the final film was supposed to premiere in March 2017, but Variety reported in 2015 that the movie had been pushed back to June 2017. Then, in February 2016, Deadline broke the news that the Ascendant director had left the project.

To improve its ability to finance production, ASCENDANT formed a foreign distribution operation. This operation distributes films through output arrangements with major territorial distributors and broadcasters and by making its own sales in the remaining foreign territories. The films distributed by ASCENDANT include its own in-house productions and films from third party producers.

Michael Joshua Rowin is a critic who has written about film and culture for Film Comment, Slant, Cineaste, Reverse Shot, and The Criterion Collection. He lives in Queens, New York.More by Michael Joshua Rowin

The single-take film Boiling Point thrusts you into the high-stress world of a fine dining kitchen, capturing in real time the escalating tensions and frayed nerves of those working in the service industry.

Stephen Graham, who stars as head chef Andy, is a ticking time bomb of repressed emotion and professional ambition, teetering on the edge as he navigates a chaotic dinner service, a health inspection, and a personal crisis all within the claustrophobic confines of his kitchen.

The ambiguous ending of the Boiling Point film left me and other millions of viewers hungry for answers. So when news dropped that a Boiling Point series was coming to our screens on 1st October, I was beyond excited.

Sources say the studio will reconfigure the project, dubbed Ascendant, as a TV movie and position it for a spinoff series, with Lionsgate TV taking the reins on production. Lionsgate declined comment.

Agents say they expect very serious negotiations for their clients. But some feel it would set a dangerous precedent if actors simply go along with a move from film to TV. Sources say Lionsgate had an option for all of the main talent for the fourth and final film, but it had a theatrical requirement. This new arrangement would involve complete renegotiations of their contracts.

It was embarrassing for the studio for multiple reasons: Their previous commitment to a two-part theatrical finale, the inability to move forward with just one more movie, and the fact that diverting from the source material only lost fans and hurt box office revenue.

Making matters more complicated for the studio to continue with a fourth installment, the Divergent Series cast had contracts stipulating that all of the Divergent movies must be released in theaters. Since releasing The Divergent Series: Ascendant on TV would cause the agreements to be violated, Lionsgate had to go back to the negotiating table. But the actors, sensing a bomb, decided to stay away.

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