Divergent Leads The Box Office This Weekend, Is Officially Getting A Sequel

I think it’s fair to say at this point that moviegoers are totally cool with female-led action films.

The weekend isn’t over yet, but box office reports put the film on track for a $60 million (or so) debut. By comparison, Muppets Most Wanted took second place this weekend, earning an estimated $18 million. Well done, Divergent. Well done.

Summit Entertainment has also officially given the greenlight to Insurgent, based on the second book in Veronica Roth’s dystopian trilogy. Insurgent is slated for a March 2015 release, and if all goes well, trilogy closer Allegiant should round out the series in 2016.

Given that this is the third female-led YA novel adaptation produced by Summit (and its parent company, Lionsgate), Divergent’s opening has drawn some inevitable comparisons to The Hunger Games and Twilight. For the curious, Twilight opened with $70 million, which puts the two relatively on par. The Hunger Games, on the other hand, brought in nearly $160 million its first weekend. But that’s nothing Divergent should hang its head over. Come on. It’s The Hunger Games. $60 mil is nothing to sneeze at.

As for whether the movie is any good, that I can’t comment on. What say you, Divergent fans? Who out there stood in line this weekend?

(via Collider and MTV)

Previously in Divergent

• Divergent’s Shailene Woodley on Twilight
• The Final Divergent Trailer
• A Divergent Featurette For Those Who Haven’t Read The Books

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