The tides finally began to turn against big-budget adaptations of post-apocalyptic YA novels earlier this summer when Lionsgate reportedly scrapped its plan to make a big-screen version of Ascendant—the final book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent series. The previous film, Allegiant, was relatively well-received, but it failed to live up to the impossible box-office benchmark established by the Hunger Games movies. Because of this, Lionsgate decided to finish up the series with a TV movie and possible ongoing TV series, which would at least give it a chance to finish the story without having to pay for all of that expensive movie stuff like film reels, those trailers with the glittery star on the door, and—as it turns out—big-name actors.
That last bit is probably going to be a little harder on Lionsgate than anticipated, as series star Shailene Woodley has now revealed that she’s not especially cool with this Divergent TV show idea. Speaking with Screen Rant, Woodley explained that she “didn’t sign up to be in a television show” and isn’t “necessarily interested” in doing one, even though she respects the studio’s decision to change direction. Slight “I’m a movie actor, not a TV actor” snobbery aside, it’s an understandable position to take, especially since this is the second time that studio maneuvering has kind of robbed Woodley of a huge role. (Longtime Woodley fans will recall she was supposed to play Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but her scenes got cut, and then that whole series got squashed like some kind of bug.)
