Noah Oppenheim will adapt the third book in Veronica Roth’s popular YA series. The second Divergent film Insurgent is still shooting in Atlanta, but producers are already kicking off work on the following film, Allegiant.
Noah Oppenheim, who wrote the screenplay for YA adaptation The Maze Runner, will adapt Veronica Roth’s third novel for the big screen. The third book is being split into two films; Oppenheim is currently signed on to write the third film, Part 1.
Shailene Woodley and Theo James star in Summit’s dystopian franchise, which is set in a futuristic Chicago where people are divided into groups by certain values. Summit already has slated release dates for all three remaining films, with the third book Allegiant being broken up into two films. Insurgent hits theaters on March 20, 2015, Allegiant: Part 1 follows one year later on March 18, 2016 and Part 2 will hit on March 24, 2017. Because the films are slated just one year apart from each other, it makes sense that producers would want to get a writer working on Allegiant while Insurgent is still shooting. Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher of Red Wagon Entertainment are producing all four films along with Pouya Shabazian.
For Insurgent, Robert Schwentke will be taking over directing duties from Neil Burger, who directed the first film, which earned $269.2 million worldwide. Woodley and James will return to reprise their roles of Tris and Four, while new cast members include Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer.
Allegiant sees Tris and Four discovering that the world they grew up in may all be a lie, and they’ll have to make hard choices that could change their lives forever. Oppenheim most recently wrote the script for The Maze Runner, Fox’s adaptation of James Dashner’s futuristic YA book about a group of teens trapped inside a mysterious maze. The film, starring Dylan O’Brien, hits theaters in September. Oppenheim, who is repped by CAA and Management 306, has also serves as a TV producer, previously executive producing The Buried Life, and acting as a senior producer on Today and Hardball with Chris Matthews.
