‘Divergent’ Author Says Film Franchise ‘Feels Complete’ Despite Scrapped Ending: ‘The Movies Were Taking a Different Track Than the Books’

Jaden Thompson
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Veronica Roth, the author of the popular dystopian YA series “Divergent,” isn’t upset that the final film adaptation in the franchise never came to fruition, she revealed in a new interview with People.

The final book “Allegiant” was set to be split into two films, with the first releasing in 2016; the second part, however, never made it to the big screen. Roth said she that she has accepted this fact, given that she felt the films were going in a different direction than her novels.

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“I mean, breaking things in two was all the rage at the time. That was why that decision was made,” Roth said. “But at that point, I think I always felt peace about it just because I knew the movies were taking a different track than the books, and if you change the lead up, you change the ending. So I kind of felt like at that point … I feel like that third movie, I don’t know — there’s a lot we could talk about with it. But it’s its own thing.”

“It feels complete to me, relatively speaking, because what does that even mean at that point?” she continued.

Roth’s book series followed Tris, a rebellious young woman leading a resistance against a dystopian society divided into factions. Shailene Woodley starred as the protagonist in the films alongside Theo James, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Zoë Kravitz.

Several franchises at the time were concluding book-to-film adaptations with the final book split into two films, including “Harry Potter,” “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”

“I just feel like it’s got to be a big, long book in order for that to make sense,” Roth said.

The author also discussed what it was like to revisit her final novel after some time had passed.

“I listened to the series again on audiobook recently, and this was the first time I had re-experienced any of the books pretty much since ‘Allegiant’ came out, because for a while it just reminded me of the internet, intense stress. I’m obviously a lot older, and I think reading ‘Allegiant’ again I understand better why there was such a strong reaction to this, just because of having that time and perspective,” she explained. “It’s interesting to reflect.”

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