Divergent (2014)

Film Type:

Feature

Language:

English

Colour Info:

Color

Sound Mix:

Datasat Digital Sound, Dolby Digital

Camera:

ARRI ALEXA M

Frame Rate:

24 fps

Aspect Ratio:

2.35:1

Stereoscopy:

No

Archival Source:

QubeVault

Taglines:

What Makes You Different, Makes You Dangerous
One choice can transform you

Movie Connection(s):

Followed by: Insurgent (English)
Followed by: Allegiant (English)

Filming Locations:

Trivia:

Other rising talents in this movie are Miles Teller, who was Woodley's co-star in "The Spectacular Now" and Ansel Elgort, who portrayed the lead male role opposite Woodley in the youthful romantic comedy The Fault in Our Stars (2014).

The English actor Theo James plays the male lead role in this movie. James, 29, gained recognition when he appeared in the popular British television drama "Downton Abbey" and also starred in the CBS sitcom "Golden Boy."

The 22-year-old Shailene Woodley, who plays the female lead in this movie, got her start on the ABC Family series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and earned critical acclaim for her performances in "The Descendants" and "The Spectacular Now."

Veronica Roth was just 21 when she wrote "Divergent," her first book, which sold in four days, to the first editor who finished reading it. It quickly became a bestseller and spawned two sequels, "Insurgent" and "Allegiant," selling more than 17 million copies to date. The sequels based on eponymous Roth novels, already slated for release on the silver screen during March 2015 and 2016.

Tris and her family, the Priors, fall into the "Abnegation" faction, where putting the needs of family and society above your own is paramount. Each faction's principles are reflected in their style, so those in the selfless category wear simple, neutral clothing to better demonstrate their lack of self-importance.

The concept for this movie was created by Veronica Roth, who wrote 'Divergent' and its sequels, 'Insurgent' and 'Allegiant'. Roth, 25, released the first book in the series in spring 2011. Film rights to 'Divergent' were snapped up by Summit Entertainment even before the book was released.

The lead actress Shailene Woodley is well-liked by everyone, from the producer and director to the costume designer and stunts coordinator. She is considered that rare combination of talented, humble and generous.

Zoe Kravitz, who plays Tris' fellow Dauntless transfer Best-female-friend Christina, is the daughter of Lenny Kravitz (Cinna in "The Hunger Games") and the real life best friend of "X-Men: First Class" co-star Jennifer Lawrence aka Katniss Everdeen. When she reached out to Jen she was given a whole lot of support, encouragement and strength to take on her new role.

In addition to working out together for hours each day before shooting started, the young cast also got the chance to hang out at Chicago venues, and bond over boot camp and concerts.

Unlike "The Hunger Games," which takes place mostly in unidentified rural regions of a dystopian North America, "Divergent" is set firmly in Chicago, so the producers decided to shoot in the Windy City as well.

Although the cast and crew understands why "Divergent" is often compared to other movies based on popular young-adult franchises, they were quick to point out the many differences between the setting, the characters and storyline, with other like-genre movies such as "Hunger Games" or "The Twilight Series".

The pedigree of the technical team of this movie is outstanding. Oscar winning producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher of Red Wagon Entertainment have produced prestigious films like "Gladiator," "The Great Gatsby" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." The producers selected director Neil Burger, who has a history of making both action films ("Limitless") and character-driven dramas ("The Illusionist.")

This is a dystopian romance based on author Veronica Roth's best-selling books. Roth's Chicago-set trilogy about a society where teenagers must choose Factions (communities) based on their character strengths (Erudite for the intelligent; Amity for the friendly; Candor for the honest; Abnegation for the selfless and Dauntless for the brave) is so popular the final book "Allegiant" broke publishing records on Oct. 22 by selling more than 455,000 books in its first day.

Lucas Till, Jack Reynor, Jeremy Irvine, Alex Pettyfer, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Ludwig and Luke Bracey were considered for the lead roles.

In The Fault in Our Stars, Shailene and Ansel play boyfriend and girlfriend, while in Divergent, they play brother and sister.

Jeremy Irvine was first choice for the role of Tobias 'Four' Eaton but he turned it down because he doesn't want to be seen as a teen idol.

Miles Teller originally auditioned for the role of Four, but producers told him that he wasn't going to get it. Months later, the producers watched The Spectacular Now, and were so impressed that they called Teller and offered him the role of Eric, who is supposed to be at odds and intimidating towards the character Four. Teller turned it down because he felt that he wouldn't be able to pull off being intimidating towards Theo James. He was then offered the role of Peter, which he accepted after his friend and former co-star Shailene Woodley sent him a text asking him to accept the role so they could work together again.

Filmmakers used the cover name "Catbird" while filming public scenes for the film.