The film takes place in a dystopian future Chicago defined by a caste system. In this civilization, every citizen is organized into one of five different factions on their sixteenth birthday. Some people, like our heroine Beatrice, are deemed Divergent when they take their aptitude tests. Divergents are a threat to the political ruling class, which is bent on their elimination.
So Beatrice, rechristened "Tris," must investigate the mystery of Divergence even as she endures a brutal initiation into the Dauntless caste.
Her mentor and coach in her initiation is a chap named Four, who this clip from Yahoo! Movies reveals has some unconventional political beliefs. The clip doesn't feel like it comes from a dystopian sci-fi thriller, but a full-blown romance between two very pretty people. Those two pretty people are Shailene Woodley, who was great in both The Descendants and The Spectacular Now, and Theo James, a British actor best known for a supporting role in Underworld: Awakening and a brief role in the first series of Downton Abbey.
This first clip provides a sense of the actors' chemistry together. It also wrings some sensuousness from this future's love of tattoos and features a song that we can only assume will be on the soundtrack of songs from and inspired by Divergent.
Body art as political protest. Nice work, Four.
"I had an affinity for the character from the first time I read anything about it," James said of his character at Comic-Con in July. "He was different for me because he had a very grounded, quiet, sense of masculinity which I don’t think you see much these days and it’s reminiscent of those old movie stars, like Paul Newman. They encompass someone with great strength, but also a strong sense of being."
Summit/Lionsgate is positioning Divergent as a successor to Twilight and The Hunger Games, both of which turned a bestselling YA series into a blockbuster film franchise. With Divergent hitting theaters on March 21, 2014, the sequel is already scheduled for March of 2015, followed by the climactic installment in March of 2016.
The rush required to have a whole movie ready within a year means that director Neil Burger won't return for Insurgent. So Summit is currently seeking a helmer for the second installment and will likely have to do the same for Allegiant within the next year.
Woodley and James are the leads of Divergent, but Burger assembled an impressive group to surround them, a group that includes Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Zoe Kravitz, Jai Courtney, Mekhi Phifer, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Ray Stevenson, and Tony Goldwyn.
