Based on a series of books by author Veronica Roth, the Divergent film franchise premiered in 2014. Following its successful release, it was announced that the movie would get three sequels — Insurgent, Allegiant and Ascendant. After the third movie’s release in March 2016, what would have been the fourth and final movie was never released.
Starring Shailene Woodley (Tris Prior), Theo James (Tobias “Four” Eaton), Jai Courtney ( Eric Coulter), Miles Teller (Peter Hayes) and Ansel Elgort (Caleb Prior), among others, the films followed a teenage girl named Tris Prior who lives in a post-apocalyptic society that’s been divided into five “factions” — Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. After turning 16, Tris and her brother, Caleb, are forced to choose which faction they want to live the rest of their lives in following a test that tells you where you really belong. Once Tris takes her test, she’s dubbed “Divergent,” which means she doesn’t fit perfectly into one faction.
After choosing Dauntless, the protagonist meets Tobias “Four” Eaton, with whom she ultimately falls in love. Eventually, it’s revealed that he’s also Divergent and together they start a war after uncovering a sinister plot in which the Erudite leader plans to eradicate other factions.
“What I like about Tris is that she’s isn’t perfect,” Shailene told Entertainment Weekly in June 2013 about her character. “She’s not a superhero — she’s not [The Hunger Games protagonist] Katniss [Everdeen]. She doesn’t know how to shoot a bow and arrow, she’s not a badass by nature.”
When speaking about his character with ELLE in March 2014, Theo said that he had “an immediate affinity” with Four.
“I felt I kind of knew who he was, and how I wanted to play him. There are similarities we share, because you inevitably bring a part of yourself to every role you do, some more than others. But he is different. He has a stillness and a masculinity that is reminiscent of those more old-school characters that you see a bit less these days, especially in the younger age group,” the actor explained at the time. “Also, I think he has a wisdom that is beyond his years, so that also helps play into the fact that I’m obviously older than Shai. And he’s somebody who doesn’t need to be shouting from the rooftops. He can step back, and he’s kind of a watchful, thoughtful person, with a really strong moral philosophy.”
So, why didn’t the cast reprise their roles for a fourth and final movie? Scroll through our gallery for what we know.
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