Lionsgate on the differences between Divergent and The Hunger Games
It’s been called the next Hunger Games; Divergent is not only led by a strong female protagonist fighting against an unjust system in a dystopian world, but it will be seen on the big screen thanks to Lionsgate, the same studio behind The Hunger Games.
That seems to be something of a challenge for Lionsgate execs who have moved to dispel some doubts from investors that Divergent may not be innovative enough to do well at the box office. It’s hoped that Divergent will become the next huge book-to-movie franchise with Fanshare reporting that the book sales are tracking ahead of both The Hunger Games and Twilight at the same point in their cycles.
According to the report on Deadline, Lionsgate met with Wall Street analysts to talk through early plans for the movie version of the book.
CEO Jon Feltheimer noted that, like Hunger Games, the new film — also based on a book series for children and young adults that anticipates a dystopian future — will open in mid-March (specifically, March 21, 2014). Divergent’s book sales “are approaching the 3M mark and continue to compare favorably to The Hunger Games and Twilight franchises at a similar point in their trajectory,” he says. But Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-Chairman Rob Friedman says he recognizes key differences in the stories, and their fan bases. In Divergent “the society is different,” he says. Hunger Games “is about the society that’s striving for survival” while Divergent “is about the way a society is surviving with distinct personalities and how those personalities interweave with each other.” Not sure that I get the distinction, but the analyst who asked the question called the insight “helpful.”
So what do you think? Have you read Divergent? Do you think it will be bigger than The Hunger Games or does it even really matter? Let us know in the comments below.
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I read divergent and insurgent- I’m a massive fan!
I don’t know about it getting bigger than The Hunger Games, but it could get close. There’s a third Divergent book, the finale, coming out in the fall, i think. If all three books are turned into movies, it’ll probably go the same way as the hunger games with two films then the third split into two, like they do with everything nowadays.
Divergent has a huge fan following and its book sales are almost up to The Hunger Games’ at the time. It will definitely get close, but I agree it will be hard to be bigger than The Hunger Games, I mean come on.
I totally agree. I’ve read both THG series and the Divergent books and I love them both. I’m sure it will be very similar to THG size wise. BTW, the third Divergent book is set to come out 10/22/13.
TY!! Saved me from having to go look that up!
I think Divergent will have a different and smaller audience than THG. Unless Lionsgate figures out a way to make it more open for mass appeal. I don’t see how it could, without greatly changing the story but…stranger things have happened.
They already changed a lot of things in THG, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some details of Divergent are different. And yeah, I think overall, the fan base for the Divergent series already is smaller. That would call for a smaller movie fanbase.
IMO, they are two entirely different worlds, THG and Divergent. One is based on survival. The other is attuned to evolution. One is about family ties, while the other is about breaking from ALL family ties.
Divergent is about the non-stoppable evolution and capabilities of the human mind. After devolving into the ‘personality’ state which brings on the isolation associated with the dystopia, the ability to have and master multiple states of thinking re-evolves, along with other leaps of brain power.
These ‘personalities’ are more like caveman style tribes with incredible physicality and brutality required for each as a way of life. Similarities include the isolation — lack of communication from government — a cataclysmic event, the brutality involved, and the power struggles and eventual over throw of ‘the man’. The event in this case sets off a series of events to build a cult-like atmosphere where ‘free will’ is highly encouraged once and only once, at age 16, but then the consequences of that choice made without information, making an uninformed decision, becomes apparent quickly.
I don’t see how they can make the Divergent series as light as the first THG was. The whole series is darker, without sweatness, more actual and required paranoia. Compelling, but in a different way.
If you haven’t read them and you are in middle school or beyond, you should. Divergent is not about falling in love (it’s not romantic) as much as it is about falling in trust, once you determine who CAN be trusted.
To put it simple, I’m a fan of both and it doesn’t matter as long as both see success in the future. I do enjoy The Hunger Games a bit more, but The Hunger Games is going to be quite a hard story to beat. The Hunger Games books grip onto you and don’t let go until the end and you literally can’t stop reading them, the Divergent books grip onto you in parts and let go and the process repeats until the climax. Story wise, I found Divergent super brilliant.
I agree completely. I haven’t seen pix of (many) people compulsively reading the later installment(s) of the Divergent series as I have THG. I haven’t even finished Insurgent yet, because it “let me go.” I will before the third installment comes out tho.
I have read the Divergent books, and while they were good, I don’t think they will be bigger than The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is amazing!
It is a good book but I am a huge hunger games fan! I don’t think it will become bigger that the hunger games. I would be shocked if it did!
Just as long as the put a good amount of effort and production into The Hunger Games movies and don’t get sloppy to focus on the Divergent series more Ill be fine.
never read divergent but have it ordered of Amazon. Still THG are with out a doubt THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ!!!!!!! In my opinion they couldn’t be bigger than anything if you bribed people to buy them with hot chocolate,tea,and coffee!!!!!!!!